Supporting museums Art we've helped buy Persian Manuscript: 'Masnavi i Ma'navi of Jalul ud-Din al-Rumi'
Persian Manuscript: 'Masnavi i Ma'navi of Jalul ud-Din al-Rumi' Persian Manuscript: 'Masnavi i Ma'navi of Jalul ud-Din al-Rumi'
© British Library

Persian Manuscript: 'Masnavi i Ma'navi of Jalul ud-Din al-Rumi'

Unknown Artist

Art Funded
1912
Presented by
Henry Van den Bergh through The Art Fund
An illuminated and illustrated copy of this influential mystic poem.

This is probably the earliest copy of the complete poem and the oldest illustrated Persian book in Europe.

Ink

Share


Art we’ve helped buy at British Library

The Mostyn Psalter-Hours
 Acquired
Philip the Good's copy of the Mystère de la Vengeance by Eustache Marcadé
 Acquired 2014
Young Prince visiting an Ascetic with Musicians in a Landscape
 Acquired 1992
Wurzburg Missal
 Acquired 1917
Warrant of Charles I
 Acquired 1958
Three passports
 Acquired 1933
Thirty-one Illuminated Manuscript Miniatures
 Acquired 1992
The Wyndham Payne Crucifixion
 Acquired 1973
The Wardington Hours
 Acquired 2007
The St Cuthbert Gospel
 Acquired 2011
The Sherborne Chartulary
 Acquired 1947
The Rutland Psalter
 Acquired 1984
The Psalter and Book of Hours of John Duke of Bedford
 Acquired 1930
The Poncii Bible
 Acquired 1958
The Oscott Psalter
 Acquired 1958
The Mirandola Hours
 Acquired 1958
The Mervyn Peake Archive
 Acquired 2010
The Macclesfield Alphabet
 Acquired 2009
The Luttrell Psalter
 Acquired 1929
The Life and Miracles of St Cuthbert
 Acquired 1920
The Hours of Elizabeth the Queen
 Acquired 1958
The Horae of Sarum
 Acquired 1958
The Holkham Hall Manuscripts and Printed Books
 Acquired 1952
The Evesham Psalter
 Acquired 1936
The Dering Roll
 Acquired 2008
Satzung, Statuten und Ordnungen Bestandiger, Gutter Regierung
 Acquired 1907
Royal United Service Institute map collection
 Acquired 1968
Reminiscences of Imperial Delhi
 Acquired 2002
Psalter and Hours of Humphrey de Bohun
 Acquired 1943
Prout and Northcote Papers, and letters to John Lane
 Acquired 1931
Private press books
 Acquired 2002
Private press books
 Acquired 2002
Portrait of Mahatma Gandhi
 Acquired 1948
Plan of the Seven Marshland Townships
 Acquired 1992
Persian Manuscript: 'Masnavi i Ma'navi of Jalul ud-Din al-Rumi'
 Acquired 1912
Parole in Liberta Futuriste Olfattive Tattili Termiche (Words in Futurist, Olfactory, Tactile, Thermal Freedom)
 Acquired 2008
Notes on the second Epistle to the Corinthians
 Acquired 1921
My Ladye Nevells Booke
 Acquired 2006
Marquess of Hastings Collection of Drawings
 Acquired 1995
Manuscript of Kalila wa Dimna
 Acquired 1974
Manuscript of 'Vocabularios ex quo'
 Acquired 1928
Leaves from an Illuminated Manuscript of Frontius
 Acquired 1937
Lease of Manor of Martley
 Acquired 1958
Illuminated Persian manuscript
 Acquired 1917
Illuminated 'Book of Hours'
 Acquired 1945
Horae
 Acquired 1958
Four-fold map screen with 21 engraved maps
 Acquired 1997
Founders: Book of Bedford College
 Acquired 1945
Eight drawings by British artists in India
 Acquired 2003
Dugdale's Book of Monuments
 Acquired 1994
Collection of facsimile manuscripts
 Acquired 2009
Collection of English manuscripts & seal
 Acquired 1971
Collection of drawings and watercolours from the Raffles Family Collection
 Acquired 2006
Calligraphic hawk
 Acquired 1992
Calendar leaf from the Sforza Hours
 Acquired 2004
A Psalter from the Diocese of York
 Acquired 1990

Dating to between 1250 and 1260, the Rutland Psalter is an elaborately illuminated manuscript. Nearly all of its 190 pages are decorated, six with full page miniature illustrations.

The Mervyn Peake Archive is a collection of drawings, poetry notebooks and manuscripts by the artist and author. His illustrations form a significant portion of the archive, including the complete set of original illustrations for Lewis Carroll's Alice books.

Read more
Read less


Exhibitions at British Library

Temporarily closed
Southall Black Sisters banner, Hate is your Weapon, 2018

Unfinished Business: The Fight for Women's Rights

Back to top
Your privacy

Art Fund aims to improve the services we offer. Cookies and similar technologies allow us to better understand your needs and improve your experience on our website.

To find out more, read our cookie policy or to manage your settings click here.

  • Type of browser and its settings
  • Cookie information
  • The IP address from which the device accesses a client’s website or mobile application
  • Information about the geographic location of the device when it accesses a website or mobile application

  • Remember your login details and store your preferences
  • Create a better, more personalised experience
  • Help us understand how people interact with our website and how this could be improved
  • Make our advertising and communications efforts more efficient with measurement and targeting