Aesthetics of the Anjameh (i.e. Colophon) of the Non-Courtier Manuscripts of Shahnameh Belonging to the Safavid Dynasty

According to the existing documents, digitizing and noting the name of the calligrapher and the date in which the book was calligraphed began in the 11th century AD (5th century AH). After the transcription of the version, the scribes would keep the final phrase for themselves as an emblem or imprint. Colophon is the only place where the scribe introduces himself. Colophon is the final phrase of the manuscript written by the scribe after the completion of the original text of the book. It is said that information such as: the date of transcription, the name of the book, and in some versions the place where the book was calligraphed, were written in the colophon. This research is done by a comparative, descriptive and analytical method based on library resources. The statistical population of this research consists of 38 colophons of Shahnamehs during the Safavid era, which have been studied and analyzed in four aspects including appearance, literary elements, decorations around the page, and handwriting and language. This article seeks to answer the question of how much have the colophons of the studied Shahnamehs been influenced by the artist’s taste. The results of this research indicate that 32 colophons are in the form of triangles and 6 rectangles. There seems to be a single pattern for the colophons of the aforementioned Shahnamehs in addition to the common patterns of creativity in decorations which express the taste of the artist.

Keywords:

Shahnameh , Safavid Style , colophon , book design