Lithographed Editions of Firdawsī's Shāhnāma: A Comparative Study

Author: van Zutphen, Marjolijn

Source: Oriens, Volume 37, Number 1, 2009 , pp. 65-101(37)

Publisher: BRILL

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Abstract:

In the second half of the nineteenth century, lithography became the main means of printing books in Iran. Both in Iran and India about thirty lithographed editions of Firdawsī's Shāhnāma were published. Their set-ups all resemble Macan's first typographical edition of 1826. Macan's appendix includes three stories from the Persian epic cycle, poems written by later authors in imitation of the Shāhnāma. Although the lithographed appendixes each contain a number of variant readings to Macan, thus reflecting the proximity between the lithographic and the manuscript traditions, they also represent a step towards a more modern approach to reproducing the Shāhnāma.

Keywords: LITHOGRAPHY; SHAHNAMA; MACAN; PERSIAN EPIC CYCLE; MANUSCRIPTS

Document Type: Research article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/007865209X12555048403376

Publication date: 2009-06-01

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Founded in 1948 by Helmutt Ritter, Oriens is dedicated to studies of the languages, literatures, and history of the Ancient Near East, the Islamic world, Iran and Central Asia, and South, Southeast and East Asia.