Minasian Collection

The Minasian Collection of Islamic manuscripts, which is one of the most extensive and precious collections of its kind in the U.S., consists of over 720 Persian, and over 2120 Arabic, manuscripts, in addition to over 1000 Persian and Arabic Majmū’a, or “bound collections,” with the bulk of the manuscripts being composed during the Safavid period.

The approximate breakdown of the collection is as follows: 600 Persian manuscripts in disciplines other than medicine; 120 Persian medical manuscripts; 120 Arabic medical manuscripts; 2000 Arabic manuscripts in disciplines other than medicine; 500 Turkish and 5 Urdu manuscripts; and 1000 Arabic and Persian “bound collections,” each of which encompass from 3 up to 34 different treatises, some in one hand, but mostly in different scribal traditions. These “bound collections” are especially important for the study of Iranian and Islamic intellectual history in general and for the study of Arabic and Persian philosophy, logic, and theology in particular.

The major portion of the manuscripts dates from the 14th to the 17th century, with roughly 20 from the 13th, a few from the 12th, and 150 from the 18th century to the 19th century. Most of the manuscripts have been produced, that is, copied, collated, and bound, in the city of Isfahān in Iran, which from the 16th to the 19th century was the most important center of Islamic learning in Iran, if not in the Middle East in general.

All of the manuscripts are written in black ink, some with headings in red ink, and a considerable number with frontispiece illuminations, and about 12 with illustrations (some of “museum quality”), on hand-made papers of various types, thickness and sizes. Many of the manuscripts are in folio size, with carefully hand-stitched regular 8/16-folio quires, and many are in the one-half folio size, and some in quarter folio size. The majority of the manuscripts are well preserved; a few show water damage, termite holes, and other types of damage. The collection also includes a large number of royal, government, and legal documents—letters, decrees, and contracts of various types—that have not been studied at all. This part of the collection may prove to be of unique importance for the study of the social, religious, and political history of Iran and Shiism, and to a lesser extent, of the Middle East in general.

Among the subjects treated with the manuscripts are the following:

(1) Persian and Arabic lexicography: Several medieval general dictionaries and many technical ones that cover subjects such as philosophy and the sciences, as well as jurisprudence.

(2) Persian literature: Several dīvān (collected poetic works) of a wide range of Persian poets, including a magnificent illuminated dīvān of the famous 14th century Persian poet Hāfez and many other types of literary compositions both in prose and poetry. This aspect of the collection is of special interest for the study of Persian literature. A few of the manuscripts such as Nizāmī’s Quintet and Jāmī’s Bahārestān include magnificent illustrations. Some of these manuscripts may rightly be designated “museum pieces.”

(3) History: Several manuscripts on universal history mostly compiled during the Safavid period in Iran.

(4) Shiite theology and jurisprudence: This is one of the strongest holdings of the collection that consists of a few Persian, as well as a large number of Arabic treatises. The majority of the manuscripts were part of the medieval scholastic curriculum of the Madrasa. Such works as Sharāyi‘al-Islām by Hillī, written in the 17th century, were among the first specifically Shiite canonical compilations of jurisprudence, and were used by the Safavid state to establish Shiism as a state religion.

(5) Practical arts: A unique feature of the collection are a substantial number of manuscripts on subjects such as archery, equestrian arts, cook-books, manuals for teaching calligraphy and others.

(6) Philosophy and logic: The manuscripts on philosophy and logic are perhaps the most valuable ones in the collection for scholarship. The collection includes several unpublished major works, a number of unique autographs, and a few Persian translations of major philosophical works, hitherto unknown.