Persian Manuscripts : Album of forty calligraphies given by Colonel Antoine-Louis-Henri Polier (d. 1795) to Sir William Jones (d. 1794).

Persian Manuscripts

<p style='text-align: justify;'>This volume contains forty mounted and interleaved calligraphy specimens in various styles, chiefly by the celebrated Lucknow master Muḥammad ‘Alī, all surrounded by elaborately painted floral margins. Swiss mercenary Colonel Antoine-Louis-Henri Polier (d. 1795) commissioned it as a gift to his friend Sir William Jones (d. 1794), in whose honour it contains an ode on folio <a dir='auto' href='' onclick='store.loadPage(21);return false;'>1a</a> dated 1200 AH (1785–86 CE), the latest in the volume. The compositions and their arrangement both closely follow another album that Polier also intended for Jones, but kept by its courier Warren Hastings (1732-1818), now held in the National Art Library (<a target='_blank' class='externalLink uom-purple' href='https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1359663/'>MSL/1858/4765</a>). In addition to Muḥammad ‘Alī, the volume also contains one specimen by famed Iranian master ‘Abd al-Rashīd Daylamī (d. ca. 1670), another by Delhi scribe Muḥammad Ja‘far Kifāyat Khān (d. 1683), Shams al-Dīn ‘Alī Khān (fl. late 17th-early 18th c.), as well as one by prominent Patna calligrapher Muḥammad Ṣādiq Murīd Khān Ṭabāṭabā (fl. 18th c.), among others. </p>