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The Houghton Shahnameh
Introduced and Described by
Martin Bernard Dickson and Stuart Cary Welch (Read Book Review  )
The Shahnameh (The Book of Kings), national epic of the Iranian people, was completed by
the poet Ferdowsi in A.D. 1010. Its traditional 60,000 couplets outline exploits of
Persian heroes, legendary as well as historical, before the Islamic conquest. A copy of
Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh was an intrinsic part of a Persianate ruler’s library.
No surviving Shahnameh is grander in scale than that created in the early sixteenth
century for Shah Tahmasb at Tabriz and purchased in the mid-twentieth century by, Arthur
A. Houghton, Jr. Its 258 unusually large paintings and countless splendid illuminations
make it the most sumptuous of all. Given the paucity of surviving buildings, textiles, and
other examples of decorative arts of early Safavi culture, the book is a treasure trove
virtually an art gallery revealing the evolution of Safavi painting in the crucial years
between the early 1520s and the mid-1530s.
Volume I describes the making of the Houghton Shahnameh. The styles, personalities, and
careers of the many artists, led by the incomparable Sultan Muhammad, who participated in
its making are analyzed, and the political history, colorful figures, and court intrigue
of the period are described. This first major study of early Safavi painting contains an
innovative discussion that links Safavi painting not only with the Timuri but also with
the Turkman and other dynasties of Tabriz. Some 284 figures illustrate details of this
Shahnameh and paintings from many sources, preceding and following, thus enabling the
reader to draw comparisons with other miniatures and evaluate the importance of these.
Full discussions of the other major manuscripts of the period, detailed notes, an
extensive bibliography, two appendixes, and an index complete the scholarly apparatus.
The 269 plates of Volume II reproduce every one of the Houghton Shahnameh’s 258
miniatures in their actual size as well as the binding and many ornamental illuminations.
These have been done in deep sepia, by collotype, a screenless process providing maximum
integrity of detail, rarely used today because of its difficulty and expense. Each picture
is faced by a text page that vividly describes the action taking place and gives full
color details of the miniature. Horses prance, heads roll, courtiers preen, lovers
embrace, dragons threaten, demons cavort, and history unfolds.
Twenty-two of these Shahnameh paintings are, in addition, reproduced in full color, also
by collotype. A spectrum of colors, including burnished gold, faithfully reproduces the
intricate beauty and detail of an incomparable manuscript. These color plates, which have
tissue overlays, are tipped in and thus can be removed for separate mounting if desired.
About this Edition:
Both volumes of The Houghton Shahameh were set in English Monotype Bembo at The Press of
A. Colish under the direction of Bert Clarke. Volume I was printed by offset by The
Meriden Gravure Company, and the text imprinted directly from type by The Press of A.
Colish. The sepia collotype plates in Volume II were printed by The Meriden Gravure
Company and the text imprinted directly from by The Press of A. Colish. The color plates
were printed collotype in eight colors plus genuine gold burnish by Jaffé Heliochrome.
The paper for Volume I is Curtis Rag, manufactured by the Curtis Paper Company. The paper
for Volume II is Caledonia Parchment, especially manufactured in England for this edition.
The books were bound by Tapley-Rutter Company, Inc.
The edition was designed by Joseph Blumenthol and Peter Oldenburg.
This was a limited edition of 750 copies published in 1981, 600 of which were made
available to the public. Only a limited number of copies remain in stock today.
About the Authors:
Martin Bernard Dickson is Professor of Near Eastern Studies, Princeton University.
Stuart Cary Welch is Curator of Muslim and Hindu Painting, and Senior Lecturer in Fine
Arts, Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University. He is also Special Consultant to the Department
of Islamic Art of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Specifications:
Published in 1981 in limited edition by The Fogg Art Museum of Harvard University and
Harvard University Press.
Trim size 11¾ x 17¾, Vol I: 312 pp., 22 eight-color plates, one plate ready to be
framed,
284 black & white illustrations.
Vol II: 560 pp., 1 eight-color plate, 269 sepia plates.
Shipping weight: 30 pounds (14 kg.)
ISBN:0-395-31709-6
Publishers suggested retail price; $2500.00
Our price while quantities last: $1495.00
[Price and availability are subject to change without notice]
Book Review:
"The most beautiful book in the world? Many think it is the Shahnameh (The Book of
Kings) painted by the great masters of 16th-century Iran. Seeing its pages is like opening
a door and seeing the Sistine ceiling for the first time."
---Art News
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