4to. xxxii, [2 index], 192 pp., [13 Vocabulary of the Arabic and Persian words which occur in this work], [6 General Table of Contents), [1 list of plates], [1 errata slip] / Volume II: [2], 98 pp., vi Appendix, 54 pp., Catalogue of the Diwan, 10 engraved plates (9 numbered, one bound in as frontispiece), Persian & English text, modern half-calf, toning, some spotting and offsetting, early ownership inscription of Richard Johnson on the first title, Richard White, London, first edition, 1795 / Oriental Press, by Wilson & Co. for E. Harding, J. Debrett and West & Hughes, London, first edition, 1800.

Synopsis

First edition and the author’s first book. Ouseley (1769-1842) studied French in Paris, at the same time he cultivated an interest in Persian manuscripts, culture and literature; he soon dedicated himself to the learning of the language in Leiden. In 1810, he accompanied his brother in the position of secretary in the ambassadorial mission to Persia (his brother was Sir Gore Ouseley); in the few years there, he gathered an important collection of manuscripts. Dibdin says ‘Ouseley’s treatise is a useful treatise on the various styles of Persian handwriting, enriched with many illustrations of manuscripts, and numerous notes proving considerable research’. Not in Ghani.