Mujmal al-Tawarikh wa-'l-Qisas.

• Author: Hanaway, William L.
• Position: Mujmal al-Aqwal fi al-Hikam wa al-Amthal - Book Review

Mujmal al-Tawarikh wa-'l-Qisas. Edited by MAHMOUD OMIDSALAR and IRAJ AFSHAR. Persian Manuscripts in Facsimile, no. 1. Tehran, 1379/2001. Pp. 14, 189 folios. 4500 tumans.

Mujmal al-Aqwal fi al-Hikam wa al-Amthal. By AHMAD IBN-I AHMAD IBN-I AHMAD-I DOMANISI, edited by MAHMOUD OMIDSALAR and IRAJ AFSHAR. Persian Manuscripts in Facsimile, no. 2. Tehran, 1381/2002. Pp. 24, 163 folios. 4500 tumans.

The appearance of this new series of manuscripts is facsimile, under expert editorship, gives hope of new and/or better sources for scholars of Persian to work from. Mujmal al-Tawarikh wa-'l-Qisas is an anonymous general history of the world from its creation until the completion of this book in 520/1126, with special emphasis on the history of Persia. The work was edited and published in 1939 by Muhammad Taqi Bahar on the basis of a manuscript dated 813/1410 in the Biblio-theque Nationale (Ancien fonds persan, 62), which at that time was thought to be unique. Since then three other manuscripts have come to light, and the present facsimile is of the oldest of the four, dated 751/1350 and held in the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin (HS or 2371). Included are useful introductions in Persian and English by the editors. A brief comparison of the facsimile with the published text reveals numerous small differences, and the facsimile is able to supply some sections that were missing or illegible in the manuscript used by Bahar. All this suggests that the time may have come for a new edition of this important work of history and literature.

The text has always been of special interest to folklorists and students of the Iranian national legend, because of the particular interests of its author. As emphasized in the title, it is a collection of historical accounts and of stories or tales (qisas), which in the opinion of Omidsalar means written accounts and not oral narratives. The author lists many sources that he used, not only familiar ones such as the histories of Tabari, Dinavari, and Hamza of Isfahan but also several about mythical and legendary figures in the Shahnama. Many of these have been lost, so that the book preserves stories and tales that appear nowhere else. Unfortunately, the facsimile reproduction of the manuscript is uneven, with some pages more difficult to read than others and the general legibility lower than what one would desire. This same problem bothered Bahar when he worked from a photocopy to make his edition. Nevertheless, the useful ness...