According to the public relations of the National Library and Archives of Iran, Abolfazl Khatibi, a distinguished Shahnameh researcher, said on Tuesday that the oldest dated but incomplete version of Shahnameh dates back to 614 AH, which is being kept at Florence library and the oldest complete version dates back to 675 AH, which is preserved at London museum; so, we can say that none of the Shahnameh manuscripts in Iranian libraries are very old or authentic and that they could not help correct the epic poem.
The member of the Academy of Persian Language and Literature went on to say that according to the list prepared by Iraj Afshar on Shahnameh manuscripts, the oldest dated version of the poem at Iranian libraries dates back to 809 AH, which is preserved at the Library of Senate of Iran and the second oldest version is known as the Shahnameh of Baysanghori dating back to 833 AH, which is kept at the Golestan Library in capital Tehran.
Among the un-dated versions in Iran, the manuscript known as Sa’dloo is believed that dates back to the end of the seventh century AH or the first half of the eighth century AH, which more important than other manuscripts, Khatibi noted.
Pointing to the newly purchased version of Shahnameh, which dates back to the eighth century AH, the expert explained that the manuscript has been bought from a private collection and that it is not a complete version, because it consists of one-fourth of Shahnameh.
This manuscript has a few handwriting errors and it is very easy to read, he said, adding that the version is not decorated with no painting or illumination.
1424
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