Papers of Richard and Turner Macan

The main item in these papers is the Letter Book, complied by Richard Macan concerned with the sale of the estate of the late Major Turner Macan. There is also a note written by Richard Macan and some modern research notes on the Letter Book and Turner Macan's biography.

Captain Turner Macan (1792-1836) of Carriff, Co. Armagh, was Persian Interpreter to the Commander-in-Chief of the British Army in India. His edition of the Shahnameh was the first ever printed in Europe. The text was prepared from seventeen complete manuscripts and four fragments, most of which were written in Persia, lent to Macan by various British army officers and civil servants as well as local nawabs. One of these manuscripts (Rylands Persian MS 932, University of Manchester) was presented to the translator by Nasir-ud-Din Haidar, the King of Oudh.

Richard Macan was with Turner Macan when he died in Calcutta in 1836 and took charge of his affairs.

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It is unknown how this material came into the possession of the Society.

Captain Turner Macan (1792-1836) of Carriff, Co. Armagh, was Persian Interpreter to the Commander-in-Chief of the British Army in India. His edition of the Shahnameh was the first ever printed in Europe. The text was prepared from seventeen complete manuscripts and four fragments, most of which were written in Persia, lent to Macan by various British army officers and civil servants as well as local nawabs. One of these manuscripts (Rylands Persian MS 932, University of Manchester) was presented to the translator by Nasir-ud-Din Haidar, the King of Oudh.

Richard Macan was with Turner Macan when he died in Calcutta in 1836 and took charge of his affairs.

The Papers were catalogued by Nancy Charley, RAS Archivist, in 2019.

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The Letter Book was compiled by Richard Macan to document his dealings with the estate of Turner Macan to be presented to the executors of Turner Macan's estate, Major Thomas Macan and Mr Graham Johnston.

Within our Library Collections we have copies of Turner Macan's translations of the Shah nameh and the The Alif laila or Book of the thousand nights and one night. We also have Macan's Kitāb-i Shāhnāmah (كتاب شاهنامه) / taṣnīf-i Abū al-Qāsim Ṭūsī mutakhalliṣ bi-Firdawsī kih bi-saʿy va ihtimām-i Tirnir Makān, and a biography of Macan written by Keith Haines. Further details can be found on our Library catalogue: https://ras.koha-ptfs.co.uk/.

Published

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