Manuscript of the Ruba‘yyat by ‘Umar Khayyam

The small manuscript of 72 folios opens with an illuminated European-style sarlawh featuring flowers and acanthus leaves. The text is written in Ottoman ta‘liq script. The preface in Ottoman Turkish is arranged in 17 lines to a page, and the verses 12 lines in two columns. Colored papers are used throughout the text. All the folios are decorated with horizontal bars in gold and blue/green separating the quatrains. The manuscript is copied by Sayyid 'Abdi in 1261/1845. The green leather binding is gilded, and the doublure (inside cove is covered with blue paper with embossed patterns.