The Shahnama of Shah Tahmasp The Persian book of kings

The Shahnama manuscript made for Shah Tahmasp is widely considered the most beautiful illustrated manuscript in the Islamic tradition, and indeed among the finest of any time or place. As explained in this volume's fine concise introduction by Canby (Metropolitan Museum of Art), it was made by a team of 15 painters, including Sultan Muhammad and the greatest artists of the period, two calligraphers, and many other specialists during a period ranging roughly from 1522 to 1540. Given to the Ottoman sultan in 1568, it was purchased by Arthur Houghton in 1959, and in older literature is still often termed "the Houghton Shahnama." Sadly, Houghton broke up the manuscript in 1970, giving 78 illustrations to the Metropolitan Museum. Others were sold and are now dispersed around the world in collections usefully listed at the end of this volume. This stunningly beautiful, large-format volume (about 18 x 12 inches) for the first time reproduces all the miniatures in fine color plates, reduced only 20 percent (approximately) from their original heroic scale. It is the necessary basis for further study, in conjunction with the extensive 1981 art historical study by Martin Dickson and Stuart Cary Welch, The Houghton Shahnameh. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Lower-division undergraduates and above; general readers. L. Nees University of Delaware