Hamse-i Atâyî - خمسۀ عطائي

This material is held atBritish Library Asia, Pacific and Africa Collections

  • Reference
    • GB 59 Or 13882
  • Dates of Creation
    • 1151
  • Language of Material
    • Turkish
  • Physical Description
    • 4 texts in one complete volume 240 ff. Materials: Paper, with marbled end papers. Foliation : European, 240 ff. Dimensions: 259 mm x 147 mm, text box 178 mm x 83 mm. Ruling: gold-ruled margins, 23 lines with catchwords. Script: Nesih. Ink: Primarily black. Binding: Contemporary black and maroon morocco binding, with central gilt stamped cartouches and rope-pattern tooled gilt borders, missing the flap.

Scope and Content

This volume contains four of the five mesnevi poems of Nev'îzâde Atâyî (d. 1054 AH / 1635-6 CE). As in many manuscripts, the Hilyet'ül-Efkâr is missing. The opening lines of other documented manuscripts of the Hamse are the same as in the present text. The contents of the manuscript are:. 1. (ff 1v-38v): Alemnüma ;. 2. (ff 40v-114v): Nefhat'ül-Ezhar ;. 3. (ff 115v-179r): Sohbet'ül-Ebkâr ;. 4. (ff 179v-240v): Heft Han. The text contains four illuminated 'unvāns, ff 1v, 40v, 115v, 179v; thirty miniatures; three inscriptions and two seals relating to ownership; and marbled endpapers. The miniature paintings, contemporary with the text, are by two or three different artists and vary in style and quality. There is some resemblance to those in a manuscript of the same work completed some ten years earlier (Topkapı Sarayı Müzesi Revan 816). The miniatures are on folios 7r, 9v, 49v, 50r, 68v-96r, 73v, 76v, 77r, 79v, 84r, 87r, 94r, 103r, 105v, 106r, 108v, 154v, 156r, 158r, 158v, 160v, 161r, 163r, 166r, 166v, 168r, 169v, 170v, 173r, and 176v. Some illustrate historical events and scenes, others various anecdotes. Those on folios 103r, 108v, 158r and v, 161r, 166r and v depict heterosexual or homosexual intercourse or masturbation. The double miniature depicting the Bosphorus on ff 68v-69r is of fine quality. This manuscript is dated 10 Rebiülahir 1151 AH (28 July 1738 CE)ç.

Access Information

Not Public Record(s)

Restrictions to access apply please consult British Library staff

Acquisition Information

Purchased by the British Library from Mrs. S. Ewart, April 1979.

Other Finding Aids

See EI2 pp. 723-3; THK p. 132; OM III, p. 95; HOP III, pp. 232 ff; Karatay II, p. 143.

Related Material

Other copies can be found at Or 6297, Or 7235 (incomplete), and Or 13348 (incomplete). Another copy of text I can be found at Add MS 7925 text IV. Other copies of texts 2 and 4 can be found at Or 7081. Another copy of text 3 can be found at Or 7080. See Topkapı Sarayı Müzesi Revan 816 in Istanbul.