Nawa'i MSS (1)

One of the main problems facing the researcher of Mir 'Ali Shir is that manuscripts of his works, whether copied during his own lifetime or after, are dispersed across innumerable countries. Naturally, some institutions have more mss than others; of particular importance is the manuscript collection at the Biruni (Oriental) Institute of the Uzbek Academy of Sciences in Tashkent. There are also important items at libraries in Kazan (Tatarstan) and St Petersburg (Russia).

Outside of the countries of the former Soviet Union, the Bibliothèque Nationale du France in Paris and the British Library in London are arguably of primary importance. It should be pointed out that Nawa'i's works exist in both Persian and Chaghatay Turkic, but because of my language training I am initially focusing on identifying and accessing mss written in the latter language.

There are two ways of identifying mss: 1) scholarship based on mss and published critical editions; 2) published catalogues. In terms of the latter, a limited list looks like this ...

Ethé, H., Catalogue of the Persian Manuscripts in the India Office Library, repr. (London: India Office Library & Records, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, 1980).

Kut, G., Supplementary Catalogue of Turkish Manuscripts in the Bodleian Library: with reprint of the 1930 catalogue by H. Ethé, (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003).

Meredith-Owens, G. M., Handlist of Persian Manuscripts [acquired by the British Museum] 1895-1966, (London: British Museum, 1968).

Parlatir, İ., Hazai, G., and Kellner-Heinkele, B., Catalogue of the Turkish Manuscripts in the Library of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Oriental Manuscripts in the Library of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, 2 (Budapest: Hungarian Academy of Sciences, 2007).

Rieu, C., Catalogue of the Persian Manuscripts in the British Museum, 3 vols (London: British Museum, 1879-83).

—, Catalogue of the Turkish Manuscripts in the British Museum, (London: British Museum, 1888).

—, Supplement to the Catalogue of the Persian Manuscripts in the British Museum, (London: British Museum, 1895).

Smirnow, W. D., Manuscrits Turcs de l’Institut des Langues Orientales [St Petersburg], Collections scientifiques de l’Institut des Langues Orientales du Ministère des Affaires Étrangères, 7 (Amsterdam: Celibus, 1971).

Sobranie Vostochnykh Rukopisei Akademii Nauk Uzbekskoi SSR [catalogue of oriental manuscripts at the Uzbek SSR Academy of Sciences], 11 vols (Tashkent: UzSSR Academy of Sciences, 1952–1987).

Volin, S. L., ‘Opisanie rukopisei proizvedeniy Navoi v Leningradskikh sobraniyakh' [A description of Navoi manuscript items in the Leningrad collections], in Alisher Navoi, ed. by A. K. Borovkov (Moscow/Leningrad: USSR Academy of Sciences, 1946).

Waley, M. I., Supplementary Handlist of Persian Manuscripts, 1966-1998, (London: British Library, 1998).