The Look of the Book assesses the role of the city of Shiraz in Iranian book production between the early fourteenth and mid-fifteenth centuries. It is the first detailed analysis of all aspects of the book--illumination, codicology, illustration, calligraphy, and binding--during this significant era when the "look of the book" was transformed. Four periods of change are identified: the years following 1340, until the end of Injuid rule in Shiraz; the later 1350s and the 1360s, during Muzaffarid rule; the years from 1409 to 1415, when the Timurid prince Iskandar Sultan was governor of Shiraz; and the decade (1435-45) following the death of Ibrahim Sultan, Iskandar's cousin and successor as governor. Although the focus is Shiraz, the author’s comparative and chronological approach to the material means production elsewhere in Iran is also considered, while the results of the study increase our understanding of the history and development of the arts of the book not only in Shiraz, or even Iran as whole, but also in other centers of the Islamic world that followed the Iranian model. Highlights of this book, which is heavily illustrated with exquisite illuminated manuscript pages, are its examination of illumination, an overlooked area of book production; the codicological aspects of the manuscripts, including paper and text layout; and the development of nasta‘liq script. The manuscripts studied are held in more than fifty collections, primarily those in Dublin (Chester Beatty Library), Istanbul (Topkapi Palace Library and Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts), London (British Library), Oxford (Bodleian Library); Paris (Bibliothèque Nationale de France); and Washington, DC (Freer and Sackler Galleries of the Smithsonian Institution).

The Look of the Book: Manuscript Production in Shiraz, 1303-1452 (Occasional Papers)

Arts & Photography

Wright, Elaine

History & Criticism

University of Washington Press

Throughout history, people have assembled albums that record their lives and the world around them. Among the most remarkable of all albums ever created are those made in the years 1600-1657 for the emperors Jahangir and Shah Jahan. The Mughal dynasty ruled India for more than three centuries, but the period of greatest artistic production was that of these two great emperors, and the albums of paintings and calligraphy (called muraqqa' in Persian), that they assembled now serve as a window to understanding the history and culture of this important period of Indian history. The paintings in the albums include formal (often symbolic) portraits of the emperors themselves, depictions of members of the royal family in relaxed private settings, portraits of courtiers, Sufi saints and mystics, genre scenes, and natural history subjects. This lavishly-illustrated, color catalogue, contains essays by Elaine Wright, Curator of the Islamic Collections, Chester Beatty Library, Wheeler Thackston, Lecturer, Harvard University, Susan Stronge, Curator Asia Department, Victoria and Albert Museum, and Steven Cohen, Textile Specialist, Independent Scholar and Author, London. Exhibition Itinerary The exhibition premieres at the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC (May 3 - August 3, 2008). Subsequent venues include the Detroit Institute of Arts, Michigan (August 23 - November 16, 2008); the Honolulu Academy of Arts, Hawai'i (December 17, 2008 - March 1, 2009); and the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, Missouri (March 21 - June 14, 2009).

Muraqqa': Imperial Mughal Albums from the Chester Beatty Library

Art Services Intl

An important and fundamental introduction to the history, art and culture of Islam.

Islam: Faith, Art, Culture

Scala Publishers

"DEPRESSIVE ILLNESS AND THE CHRISTIA"

Religion & Spirituality

Lighthouse Publishing Limited

The Chester Beatty Library’s 16th-century Ruzbihan Qur’an—produced in the city of Shiraz in southwest Iran—is one of the finest Islamic manuscripts known. In terms of both materials and workmanship, it is exquisite: lapis lazuli and gold, the two most expensive pigments available, are used on every page, while the rendering of the decoration is exceptionally fine. This is the most detailed and comprehensive study of any Islamic manuscript—and it is well worthy of such scrutiny. Praised in a 16th-century account as one of the finest calligraphers of his time, Ruzbihan Muhammad al-Tab‘i al-Shirazi would have produced numerous Qur’ans during the course of his career, but only five signed by him have survived. Much of the study of this, surely his finest manuscript, is focussed on understanding the processes and procedures involved in the production of the manuscript and thus on gaining an insight into the problems faced by Ruzbihan and the other artists and how they resolved them. Certain surprising and never-before-seen techniques of production and ‘tricks-of-the trade’ have been uncovered. A large portion of the information presented is the result of very close examination, under high magnification, of the manuscript’s 445 folios (890 pages). Many of the reproductions included are of minute details of the decoration that are difficult, or even impossible, to see with the unaided eye. The book follows the order in which work on the manuscript would have progressed, beginning with an examination of Ruzbihan’s calligraphy, the various scripts he used to copy the text and the problems he faced, such as the spacing of the text and his errors and omissions. Additions, such as marginal notations, recitation marks and decorative devices indicating the divisions of the text, all of which guide the reciter in his reading of the Qur’an, are also considered. Although the manuscript’s renown has traditionally rested with the name of its calligrapher, it is equally the quality, extent, diversity and complexity of its superb decorative program—the work of a team of highly skilled, yet anonymous artists and artisans—that sets the manuscript apart from most other 16th-century Persian Qur’ans. Fittingly, therefore, the bulk of the study focuses on this aspect of the manuscript. Major aspects of the illumination, such as its lavish beginning, middle and end illuminations, are examined as well as more minor elements such as the ‘rays’ that emerge from the frontis- and finispiece; even the tiniest of details are revealed, such as what are, in the book, termed ‘squiggles and eyes’, hidden amongst the illuminations and a challenge to find for the even the most eagle-eyed viewer. However, while many of the secrets of the production of the manuscript were revealed, many mysteries remain. Chief among these is the startling change in aesthetic evident in the illuminations of the final ten openings of the manuscript. Why such as change was undertaken—and then halted—is not known. As was increasingly revealed as study of the manuscript progressed—and as the reader of the book will quickly come to realize—Chester Beatty’s Ruzbihan Qur’an is an intriguing and very special manuscript.

Lapis and Gold: Exploring Chester Beatty’s Ruzbihan Qur’an

Ad Ilissvm

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Wright, Elaine. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Wright, Elaine