VOLTAIRE]. TABRIZI, Mirza Reza (translator).
Tarikh’i Pitr’i Kabir [and] Tarikh’i Sharl’i Davazdahhum, Histories of Charles XII and Peter the Great, translated from Voltaire's ‘Histoire de l'empire de Russie sous Pierre-le-Grand’. 
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Qajar Persia, dated 10 Dhu'l Qa'da 1290 AH (30 December 1873). Single volume, illuminated manuscript on paper with fine marbled paper borders, in Farsi, 141 leaves, complete, 323 x 215 mm; single column, 11 lines to the page written in neat nasta'liq script in black ink, occasional headings and significant words in blue, inner margins ruled in gold and blue, outer borders throughout decorated with fine marbling, one fine illuminated opening headpiece, later ink inscription to recto of first leaf, else very clean and bright condition; contemporary leather over pasteboards, covers and extremities a little scuffed and rubbed. 232 by 215mm (9¼ by 8½ inches).
This extraordinary manuscript is most probably the first translation of Voltaire from French into Persian. Little is known about the life of the translator, Mirza Reza Tabrizi, however he is known to have been working as a civil servant in Khorasan in 1846 and spent the years 1853-58 as an interpreter and instructor in French at the Dar al-Fonun. This manuscript is particularly striking for the remarkable decorated marbled borders, of many varying designs and patterns, that adorn all the text pages. The use of marbled paper borders in a bound manuscript, as here, is very unusual. Marbled paper was often used to decorate album pages and calligraphic panels from the sixteenth century onwards and was very much a decorative tool elevating the design and appeal of a single artistic creation (i.e. a miniature or calligraphic exercise), it’s use to adorn the margins of every text leaf is a sign of great luxury and decadence.
45000,- EUR
inkl. 7% USt./incl. 7% VAT
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