Firdausi. Shanama, large illuminated Persian manuscript on gold-sprinkled paper. Leaves, incomplete 25 lines or less to the page written horizontally and diagonally in four columns of neat nastaliq script on paper, intercolumnar illumination throughout, headings written in white nastaliq on illuminated panels, margins ruled in colors and gold several pages with small triangular panels of floral illumination amongst text. This very fine manuscript is from a 16th century copy of the Shahnameh scribed probably nasta'liq script. The Shahnameh is the Persian 'Book of Kings' and was written in verse form (60.000 verses) by Ferdowsi for the Sultan Mahmud of Ghana in c 9th Century. It covers the story of the Persian Kings from mythical times to the fall of Sasanid empire in the mid 7th century. The epic is one of the most popular works in the Persian world, perhaps as popular as the Indian equivalent, the Ramayana. The Manuscript was incomplete and had lost all its miniatures, but the quality is superb. The paper is sprinkled with real gold and the floral decoration throughout, together with the very fine chapter headings, mark it as having been scribed for an important personage. Each leaf is a work of art, and when one considers that it was scribed during the time of the English Queen Elizabeth the 1st it is amazing that it has survived in such superb condition. A worthy addition to any manuscript collection and a wonderful example of fine craftsmanship some 450 years old. This manuscript would originally have had illustrated pages, which at some stage have been removed. 28.5 by 17 cm.