The date in the colophon, 1 Ramadan 1254, is for the completion of Book III, f. 350r; presumably the final book IV was completed some time afterwards (there is no colophon on f. 462r), though not necessasrily quickly: the colophon at the end of Book I (f. 118v) is dated nine years earlier (AH 1245) .
The manuscript has been described in considerable detail by Barbara Schmitz in the Pierpont Morgan catalogue, pp. 184-9, with some illustrations. Some of her scene identifications, however, are incorrect. Schmitz identifies the manuscript as coming from Lahore. The paper is extremely thin, so that the writing often shows through the page: this is particularly so at the beginning and the end.
There are four unvans, one at the start of each daftar (ff. 1v, 118v [the story of Bizhan and Manizha], 226v [Luhrasp], and 351v [Khusrau Anushirvan]).
The pages are decorated with an outer margin of grey-blue; the inner margin is grey-blue, space, 2 thin black, thick gold, and thin black rulings. The text columns are ruled in two thin black with gold lines. The rubric boxes are of two thin black lines. Rubrics are in red.
There are some significant variations in the handwriting (compare ff. 21r with 38r). Several pages are in chalipa script, unadorned, e.g. on f. 25v.
The original binding is now kept separate. It is lacquered but very chipped. The back cover (460 x 255 mm) shows a bare-breasted Shirin behind a screen, approached by Khusrau on horseback. With its hunting dogs and thick black beards, it all looks very Qajar. It is badly damaged. There is an inscription round the side margin. The front cover is better preserved, and again shows a scene from Nizami's Khusrau and Shirin, indicating that it was not originally made for this manuscript. Several pages have not been sufficiently trimmed for the (re)binding, allowing the instructions for the rubrics still to be visible, e.g. on ff. 35 et seqq., 47r et seqq. The European spine of dark green leather is stamped with Shah Nameh in gold.
The doublures are of red, blue and white marbled paper.
There is no prose Preface; the start of the poem is normative.
