Ɵ Nuhzat al-Qulub, manuscript on paper [Safavid Persia (Qazvin), 1072 AH (1662 AD)]

Ɵ Hamdullah Mustawfi al-Qazvini, Nuhzat al-Qulub (The Pleasure of Hearts), in Farsi, decorated manuscript on paper [Safavid Persia (the town of "Yarafi", Qazvin province), dated 7 Shawwal 1072 AH (May 1662 AD)] single volume, 213 leaves, lacking a single gathering of 8 leaves, single column, 21 lines black nasta'liq with headings and important phrases in red, numerous diagrams and tables throughout, including two large double-page maps, heightened in silver (now oxidised), some minor staining to outer edges of leaves (rarely affecting text), first and final leaves with repaired margins, some very slight worming to lower edges, 290 by 190 mm.; contemporary upper board with central medallions and corner-pieces (lower corner damaged and leather around central medallion torn), rebacked and modern cloth-backed lower board, rubbed Provenance: Christie's, 25 April 1997, lot 58. Text: Hamdullah Mustawfi Al-Qazvini (d. 1339 AD) was a Persian poet, historian and geographer who took on an official role as the regional vizier for Ilkhanate Qazvin in the early fourteenth century before the Mongol invasion. He compiled three major works of prose and poetry during his lifetime: the first was Tarikh-i Guzida, a history of the world including the life of the prophets and pre-Islamic Kings, then came the Zafarnameh, a poetic work acting as a continuation of Firdowsi's Shahnameh taking the timeline right to the Ilkhanid era, and finally he wrote the Nuhzah at-Qulub, a geographical and historical treatise documenting the affairs and workings of the Ilkhanid Empire. The Nuhzat al-Qulub was al-Qazvini's most influential work because it provided invaluable statistical and geographical information about Persia and Mesopotamia under Ilkhanid rule, and documented important political events leading up to the Mongol invasion. There are two large double-page maps present in this work. The first is a detailed geographical study of thirteenth-century Persia and its surrounding territories, including the Arabian Peninsular, Central Asia and India, the second is a depiction of a globe taken from earlier sources, which is centred upon Mecca. Both of these maps use the grid form endorsing latitudinal and longitudinal lines in an attempt to position the relevant cities in their exact geographical locations to one another.