The Museum, formerly the Evkaf Museum, contains among its library collection seven illustrated copies of the Shahnama, including a bound portion of part I of the celebrated 'Big Head' Shahnama. All the paintings have been photographed and are available for study in well-organised folders; however, labels have often been stuck over the text, which can cause a problem particularly for the Big Head folios, which frequently only contain one or two verses. At the time of our work in the library, it was not possible to see the Big Head volume.
Several of the Shahnama manuscripts are on display in the Museum itself.
We are grateful for the assistance of Sevgi Kutluay, who also drew our attention to the existence of an uncatalogued ms. of the Shahnama, which contains some illustration (Ms. 1947). For a listing of the other mss, see K. Cig, "Turk ve Islam Eserleri Muzesi'ndeki minyaturi u Kitaplarin katalogu", Sarkiyat Mecmuasi Istanbul Universitesi Edebiyat Fakultesi 3 (1959). (F.A., Ch.M.)
Project Notes
Update contact details, personnel. Get photo of the Museum. Done: Feb. 2009.
