Hüsrev ü Şirin - خسرو و شيرين.

This material is held atBritish Library Asia, Pacific and Africa Collections

  • Reference
    • GB 59 Or 14010
  • Dates of Creation
    • Late 15th century
  • Language of Material
    • Turkish
  • Physical Description
    • 1 text 210 ff Material : Paper. Foliation : European, 210 ff. Dimensions : 174 mm x 118 mm. Ruling : Gold-ruled margins (with pale green between lines) and columns; text block measures 100 mm x 65 mm; 13 lines with catchwords and episode headings in gold. Script : Nestalik. Binding : Maroon calf binding, probably contemporary, embossed with medallions and corner pieces, and a flap.

Scope and Content

This volume contains a copy of the allegorical mesnevi by Şeyhi. The present text, which was originally complete, now lacks the first 541 ebyat of the poem. All but the very end of the exordia on various spiritual themes are present. The unvan (f 1v), was added after the loss of the opening folios and bears the heading 'Kitab-i Bustan'. The manuscript contains four late 15th century illustrations in Ottoman style. The other known examples of this rare style are in the İstanbul Müzesi. The subjects depicted are: the battle in which Behram Çubin slays Saye Han (f 28v); Hüsrev at the court of the Kayser (f 95v); Şirin visiting Ferhad at Mount Bisitun (f 122r); and the arrival of Hüsrev at Şirin's castle (f 154r). This manuscript is undated, but was likely copied in the late 15th century CE in İstanbul.

Access Information

Not Public Record(s)

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Acquisition Information

Purchased by the British Library at Sotheby's Kevorkian Fund auction on 27 April 1981.

Related Material

Other copies of this text can be found at Or 2708, Or 3294, Or 7207, Add MS 7906, and Add MS 19451. For more information about the text, see Germiyanlı Yusuf Sinan Şeyhi, Şeyhî'nin Hüsrev ü Şirin'i: inceleme-metin, ed. Timurtaş, Faruk K.(İstanbul: İstanbul Üniversitesi, 1963). For the Persian original, see Rieu, Catalogue of the Persian Manuscripts in the British Museum, p. 566. For more information on the life and work of Şeyhi, see Geschichte des Osmanischen Reiches I, p. 389, 429; Haj. Khal. III, p. 138; Kınalızade, Or 35, f 153r; Geschichte der Osmanischen Dichtkunst I, p. 104; Gibb, Ottoman Poems, p. 167; and Rieu, Catalogue of the Turkish Manuscripts in the British Museum, p. 166.