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Title
Qiṣas al-anbiyā
Additional title: قصس الانبىا
Names
New York Public Library, Spencer Coll. Pers ms.1.
New York Public Library. Spencer Collection
Nīshāpūrī, Isḥāq ibn Ibrāhīm, active approximately 11th century (Author)
نىشاپورى: اسحاق بن ابراهىم، (Author)
Dates / Origin
Other Date: 10 Shawwāl 984 [8 January 1577]
Place: [Qazvīn?]
Library locations
Spencer Collection
Shelf locator: Spencer Coll. MS Pers 1
Topics
Muḥammad, Prophet, -632
1500-1599
Prophets, Pre-Islamic
Persian prose literature -- Early works to 1800
Islamic literature, Persian -- Early works to 1800
Illumination of books and manuscripts, Iranian -- Iran -- 16th century
Manuscripts, Persian -- New York (State) -- New York
Iran -- 16th century
Genres
Headpieces (layout features)
Miniatures (Illuminations)
nastaʻliq
naskhī
thuluth
illuminated manuscripts
Poetry
Leather bindings (Bookbinding)
early works
Early works to 1800
Miniatures (Paintings)
Notes
Citation/reference: Islamic Manuscripts in the New York Public Library, (ed.) Barbara Schmitz (NYPL / Oxford University Press, 1992), pages 115-118.
Statement of responsibility: Isḥāq ibn Ibrāhīm al-Nīshāpūrī.
Content: Ms. codex
Content: Physical description : Thick cream paper, defective at the beginning and with lacunae after folios 10, 24, 94, 99 and 192. 18 miniatures. Nastaʻlīq script in black ink, Qurʼānic passages in largue gold naskh, and chapter headings in red thuluth. Gold, medium blue, maroon, pale green and black rulings. A fine large shams on fol. 1a has several concentric designs, an outer border features six cloud bands filled with small flowers on a blue/lapis background, with a central knot of the cloud band placed above an unusually colored dark brown quatrefoil with six red ovals. The page background is covered by foliage inhabited by large birds in gold. A poorly executed headpiece (fol. 1b) inspired by Timurid Herat models has been pasted. Both the page with the headpiece and the facing folio have margins ornamented with foliage and large birds in two shades of gold, as do the margins of the eighteen openings with miniatures.
Content: The date of the colophon reads 18 Shawwāl 908. The year, which is written in Arabic numerals, has been tampered with and a new zero is crowded between the "9" and "8". The original last digit of the year is erased, but still can be read as "4". The correct date is probably 984. The copying of the text completed on 10 Shawwāl 984/8 January 1577 -- colophon 209b.
Preferred citation: NYPL. Spencer Collection Pers. ms. 1.
Funding: Preservation and access were made possible by the generous support of Mahnaz Ispahani Bartos and Adam Bartos.
Language: Persian; Nastaʻlīq, Naskh and Thuluth scripts.
Statement of responsibility: اسحاق بن ابراهىم النىشاپورى.
Exhibitions: Appeared in Shared Sacred Sites (TL 18.01).
Physical Description
Extent: 209 leaves : paper, ink, miniatures ; 352 x 240 mm (223 x 130 mm)
Type of Resource
Text
Languages
Persian
Persian
Identifiers
RLIN/OCLC: 1559221383
NYPL catalog ID (B-number): b23794160
Barcode: 33433137901728
TMS ID: 313208
TMS Object Number: Spencer Coll. Persian MS 1
Universal Unique Identifier (UUID): 8ea2d3d0-ab06-013f-0d10-0242ac110003
Rights Statement
The New York Public Library believes that this item is in the public domain under the laws of the United States, but did not make a determination as to its copyright status under the copyright laws of other countries. This item may not be in the public domain under the laws of other countries. Though not required, if you want to credit us as the source, please use the following statement, "From The New York Public Library," and provide a link back to the item on our Digital Collections site. Doing so helps us track how our collection is used and helps justify freely releasing even more content in the future.

Item timeline of events

  • 10: Other
  • 2026: Digitized
  • 2026: Found by you!
  • 2027

MLA Format

Spencer Collection, The New York Public Library. "Qiṣas al-anbiyā " The New York Public Library Digital Collections. https://old-digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/e3252690-a95f-013f-f248-0242ac110002

Chicago/Turabian Format

Spencer Collection, The New York Public Library. "Qiṣas al-anbiyā " New York Public Library Digital Collections. Accessed October 31, 2026. https://old-digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/e3252690-a95f-013f-f248-0242ac110002

APA Format

Spencer Collection, The New York Public Library. Qiṣas al-anbiyā Retrieved from https://old-digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/e3252690-a95f-013f-f248-0242ac110002

Wikipedia Citation

<ref name=NYPL>{{cite web | url=https://old-digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/e3252690-a95f-013f-f248-0242ac110002 | title= (text) Qiṣas al-anbiyā |author=Digital Collections, The New York Public Library |accessdate=October 31, 2026 |publisher=The New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox, and Tilden Foundations}}</ref>

Qiṣas al-anbiyā