Narrative Illustration in Persian Lithographed Books (Handbook of Oriental Studies: Section 1; The Near and Middle East) [Illustrated] 9004121005, 9789004121003

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NARRATIVE ILLUSTRATION IN PERSIAN LITHOGRAPHED BOOKS

HANDBOOK OF ORIENTAL STUDIES HANDBUCH DER ORIENTALISTIK SECTION ONE

THE NEAR AND MIDDLE EAST EDITED BY

H. ALTENMULLER · B. HROUDA · B.A. LEVINE · R.S. O'FAHEY K.R. VEENHOF · C.H.M. VERSTEEGH

VOLUME SIXTY

NARRATIVE ILLUSTRATION IN PERSIAN LITHOGRAPHED BOOKS

NARRATIVE ILLUSTRATION IN PERSIAN LITHOGRAPHED BOOKS BY

ULRICH MARZOLPH

BRILL LEIDEN· BOSTON· KOLN 2001

This book is printed on acid-free paper.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Marzolph, Ulrich. Narrative illustration in Persian Lithographed books / by Ulrich Marzolph. p. cm. - (Handbook of Oriental studies .. Section one, Near and Middle East, ISSN 0169-9423; v. 60. = Handbook der Orientalistik) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 9004121005 (hardcover : alk. paper) I. Narrative art, Iranian-19th century. 2.Narrative art, Iranian-20th century. 3. Illustration of books-Iran-19th century. 4. Illustration of books-Iran-20th century. 5. Lithographed books-Iran. I. Title. II. Handbuch der Orientalistik. Erste Abteilung, Nahe und der Mittlere Osten ; 60. Ed. N7433.93 .M37 2001 745.6'74915-dc21

2001025575 CIP

Die Deutsche Bibliothek - CIP-Einheitsaufnahme Marzolph, Ulrich: Narrative illustration in Persian lithographed books I by Ulrich Marzolph. - Leiden ; Boston ; Ki:iln : Brill, 200 I (Handbook of oriental studies : Sect. 1, The Near and Middle East ; Vol. 60) ISBN 90-04-12100-5

ISSN 0169-9423 ISBN 90 04 12100 5 © Copyright 2001 by KoninkliJke Brill .Nv, Leiden, The Netherlands

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission from the publisher. Authorization to photocopy items for internal or personal use is granted by Brill provided that the appropriate fies are paid directly to The Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Suite 91 0 Danvers MA 01923, USA. Fees are subject to change. PRINTED IN THE NETHERLANDS

CONTENTS Forevvord

....................................................................................................... VII

XII

List of Libraries Consulted 1.

INTRODUCTION

1

1.1.

Sources of Information

3

1.2.

The Printed Book in Iran

1.3.

The Lithographed Book in Iran

1.4.

Illumination and Illustration in Early Persian Lithographed Books

18

2.

GENRES OF ILLUSTRATED LITHOGRAPHED BOOKS

22

2.1.

Classical Persian Literature

24

2.2. 2.3.

Religious Literature

25

Romantic Epics and Popular Narratives

26

3.

ARTISTS ACTIVE IN LITHOGRAPHIC ILLUSTRATION

28

3.1.

Mirza 'Ali-Qoli Khu'i (1263-72/1846-55)

31

3.2.

Ostad Sattar Tabrizi (1267-75/1850-58)

34

3.3.

Mirza Mab.mud al-Khvansari (1269-73/ 1852-56)

3.4.

Mirza Basan b. Aqa Seiyed Mirza E~fahani (1271-81/1854-64)

35 36

3.5.

Mirza Reza Tabrizi b. Mob.ammad-'Ali-Khan Ashtiyani (1272/1855)

37

3.6.

MirzaHadi(l271-84/1854-67)

38

3.7.

Mirza Seifallah al-Khvansari (1272-80/1855-63)

38

3.8.

Bahram Kermanshahani (1280/ 1863)

.............................................. .

39

3.9.

'Abd al-Muttalib (1282/ 1865)

........................................................... .

39

3.10.

Mirzaja'far (1282/1865)

3.11.

Na~rallah-Khan Khvansari (l 286-1300/1869-82)

3.12.

Mirza Na~rallah (1289-1316/1872-98)

3.13.

'Abd al-Bosein al-Khvansari (1289-1316/1872-98)

3.14.

Mo~tafa(l299-1311/1881-93)

3.15.

'Ali-Khan (1298-1332/1880-1913)

12 ........................................................ .

.......

........................................................

13

40 ............................ .

40

............................................ .

40

..........................

41

..........................................................

42

...................................................

42

CONTENTS

VI

3.16.

NabiQajar(l304/1886)

....................................................................

3.17. Javad(l316-20/1898-1902)

..............................................................

43 43

3.18.

I:Iosein-'Ali b. 'Abdallah-Khan (13 l 7-23/1899-1905)

.......................

44

3.19.

Mob-ammad-Ka~em al-Hamadani (1319-23/1901-05)

.....................

44

3.20.

Seiyed al-Sho'ara' (1320-24/1902-06)

..............................................

45

3.21.

Mob-sen Taj-Bakhsh (1342-60/1923-41)

..........................................

45

3.22.

Mob-ammad Sane'i b. Fatb-allah Khvansari (1350-66/1931-46)

46

3.23.

Other Artists

47

4.

PECULARITIES OF LITHOGRAPHIC ILLUSTRATION

49

4.1.

Technical Aspects

49

4.1.1. Substitute Illustrations

49

4.1.2. Paste papers

52

...................................................................................... .

4.1.3. Censorship

54

4.2.

Programs of Illustration

56

4.3.

Iconographical Aspects

59

4.3.1. Recurrent Topics 4.3.2. Stereotypes

...............................................................................

59

........................................................................................

60

4.3.3. Depiction of Material Culture

61

4.3.4. Illustrations Unrelated to the Text

61

5.

EPILOGUE

62

6.

FIGURES

65

7.

LEGENDS TO THE FIGURES

8.

SOURCES

8.1.

In Alphabetical Order

230

8.2.

In Chronological Order

270

9.

INDEX OF NAMES MENTIONED IN THE SOURCES

275

9.1.

Scribes

275

9.2.

Publishers

283

9.3.

Printers

290

10.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

215

....... .. .................................. ............. ............... ......... ........ 230

............................................................................. 295

FOREWORD The present study owes its conception to my visual fascination with a particular field of Persian art. It introduces a distinctive type of the "Islamic" book which has so far been largely neglected: the genre of illustrated lithographed books produced in nineteenthand early twentieth-century Iran. 1 Of the various types of Persian illustrated lithographed books, the study surveys those pertaining to one particular category of illustrations, albeit the largest one, here labeled "narrative illustration". In Iran, illustration in lithographed books has been employed for a variety of purposes, including its use in scientific books and school manuals, travel accounts, historical studies, translations of European literature, and also portraits in journals of the Qajar period. The modes of illustration employed in these types of books share a common denominator inasmuch as they aim at a more or less realistic depiction of their subject matter, whether this be human anatomy, astrology, chemistry, historical places or the portrait of a contemporary politician. Narrative illustration as conceived in this study is a natural counterpart to realistic depiction. Its subject matter is mostly fictional and relies on traditional imagery. Even though narrative illustration may at times profit from depicting aspects of contemporary reality, the realistic garb is employed only in order to clothe traditional topics. The few pieces of historical, scientific or otherwise educational nature that have been included in the present survey share the characteristic of illustrating their themes in a style closely related to or reminiscent of tradition. Indeed, narrative illustration in lithographed books of the Qajar period constitutes the legitimate successor to the previous mode of manuscript illustration. Being a German orientalist scholar who for the past twenty years has specialized in the folklore, folk narrative and popular culture of the Islamic Near and Middle East, I first became acquainted with lithographic illustration in 1984, when I translated a selection of Persian folk-tales. A fellow-student suggested reproducing an illuminated chapter-heading with figural ornaments from the 1271/ 1853 edition of Naraqi's Anis al-movaMedin which I eventually did publish with its calligraphy slightly adapted. 2 Already at that time, and more so when researching Persian chapbooks of the midtwentieth century in 1993, I came to notice that illustrations in those chapbooks often

Except for the passages concerning Ferdousi's Shah-name, Persian lithographed books of obvious Indian origin have not been considered. For those, see Scheglova, 0. P. 1999. "Lithograph versions of Persian manuscripts of Indian manufacture in the nineteenth century." A1anuscripta Orientalia 5, 1: 12-22. 2 Persische lvliirchen Afiniaturen, erzahlt von Maschdi Galin Chanom, niedergeschrieben von L. P. Elwell-Sutton, herausgegeben und tibersetzt von Ulrich Marzolph, Koln: Eugen Diederichs 1985, p. 2 (with a playful adaptation of the stereotype introductory formula of Persian folktales,yeki bud, yeki naburl). 1

VIII

FOREWORD

reproduced items originating from an older tradition. 3 Only upon locating the original sources did I realize the full potential of narrative illustration in lithographed books of the Qajar period, a field whose charm lies in combining both intellectual challenge and visual attraction. The folklorist background of the present study implies a focus slightly different from that of an art historian. Lithographic illustration in Iran, though it never reached the artistic standard of manuscript illumination, has produced a limited number of true masterpieces, such as the 1264/184 7 edition of Ne?ami's Khamse, illustrated by Mirza 'Ali-Qoli Khu'i, the 1274-76/1857-59 edition of the Romu::::,-e ljamze, illustrated by Mirza I:Iasan, or the 1280/ 1863 edition of Tolzfat al-;:;,_akerin by Mirza Mohammad Chelabi Bidel, illustrated by Bahram Kermanshahani. In contradistinction to the standard art-historical approach, research for the present study has at no point focused on the technical expertise displayed in masterpieces of the art of the book. Instead, the author has endeavored to keep in mind the social significance of lithographic illustration. Illustrated manuscripts were accessible to a small and highly privileged minority of wealthy customers. Compared to their refined quality, lithographic illustration is a modest art, at times even tempting the viewer to judge it in terms of decline or degeneration. Yet, unlike illustrated manuscripts, lithographic illustrations, owing to their wider - though still limited - distribution, were a little closer to the people, a social aspect linking them to narrative stucco-work (gach-kan) in public buildings (such as the I:Iammam-e Vakil in Shiraz), to illustrated tile-work (kashi-kan)4 or to the peculiar kind of popular painting known in Iran as coffee-house painting (naqqashi-ye qahve-khane). 5 Although one should be careful not to overestimate the social relevance of lithographic illustration, previous research has justly termed as "popular" both the literature illustrated (Russian: lubok) 6 as well as the actual items illustrated (French: imagerie populaire). 7

Marzolph, U. 1994a. Diistanha-ye nrin. Fiirif;::,ig persische Volksbiichlein aus der Mitte des !,\.,;~

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126

FIG. 62

Alfleila va leila 1272/ l 855.

127

FIG. 63

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FIG. 64

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FIG. 65

Tefrin al-boka' 1271/1854.

129

FIG. 66

130

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FIG. 67

Vasilat al-najiit 1284/ l 867.

131

132

FIG. 68

'-t 1284/ 1867. Vasilat al-nrya

FIG. 69

Kolleyat-e Sa'di 1272-74/ l 855-57.

133

FIG. 70

134

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FIG. 71

Tolifat al-;:;,,akerin 1280/ 1863.

135

FIG. 72

136

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FIG. 73

Tolfat al-:;.akerin 1280/ 1863.

137

FIG. 74

138

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FIG. 75

~:~"'' ~~~~~~~:~~~

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139

FIG. 76

140

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FIG. 77

s.a.; Qs1a1 al-anbrya' 1297 / 1879. Khosrou-e di:o:::,ad 129 8/ 1880; Tefrin al-boka'

141

142

FIG. 78

Eflekhiir-niime-ye Jfeidari 1310/ 1892.

143

FIG. 79

' .'? " o "0 S,,.· ,. 0

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144

FIG. 80

Shah-niime 1316/ l 898.

FIG. 81

Shah-name 1307 /1889, 1316/ 1898.

145

146

FIG. 82

if:ifft~•"i'. ~; :,J(

Shah-name 1317 / l 898.

FIG. 83

Shah-name 1307 / l 889.

147

148

FIG. 84

Chaharfa#-eMeikade 1307/1889.

149

FIG. 85

Shah-name 1307 / 1889; Lalerokh 1306/ 1888;

lfabib al-ou!iif 1308/ 1890.

150

FIG. 86

Hezar Diistan 131 7-18/ 1899-1900; Jame' al-tam{},! 1321 / 1903.

FIG. 87

Kalile va Demne 1282/1865, 1304/1886, 1314-15/1896-97.

151

152

FIG. 88

Khamse 1299-1301/ 1881-83, 1316/1898.

FIG. 89

He:::_ar dastan 1317-18/ 1899-1900.

153

154

FIG. 90

Single leaf illustrations 1323/ l 905, 1322/ l 904.

FIG. 91

Ba~r aljava'ed 1320-24/1 902-06.

155

156

FIG. 92

- ':"!'""'--,-;,,.,.,

_____:;;:;;;;.....:.;;::::::::~:::::···:.=- (UL. Eskandar-name 1354-56/ 1935-37.

FIG. 93

Eskandar-name 1354-56/1935-37; Shiruye 1356/1937.

157

158

FIG. 94

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Parishan-name 1271 / 1854.

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FIG. 95

Shiih-niime 1265-67 / 1848-50.

159

160

FIG. 96

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161

FIG. 97

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FIG. 98

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