an important geographical treatise

Hamdullah Mustawfi al-Qazvini (d. 1339 AD) took on an official role as the regional vizier for Ilkhanate Qazvin in the early fourteenth century before the Mongol invasion. He compiled three major works of prose and poetry during his lifetime: the first was Tarikh-i Guzida, a history of the world including the life of the prophets and pre-Islamic Kings, then came the Zafarnameh, a poetic work acting as a continuation of Firdowsi's Shahnameh taking the timeline right to the Ilkhanid era, and finally he wrote the Nuhzah at-Qulub, a geographical and historical treatise documenting the affairs and workings of the Ilkhanid Empire.

The Nuhzat al-Qulub was al-Qazvini's most influential work because it provided invaluable statistical and geographical information about Persia and Mesopotamia under Ilkhanid rule, and documented important political events leading up to the Mongol invasion. There are two large double-page maps present in this work. The first is a detailed geographical study of thirteenth-century Persia and its surrounding territories, including the Arabian Peninsular, Central Asia and India, presented in the form of a chart. The second is a depiction of a globe taken from earlier sources, which is centred upon Mecca.

Single volume, decorated manuscript on polished paper, in Farsi, 212 leaves, complete, 298 x 210 mm; single column, 19 lines nasta'liq per page, sections of important text inscribed in naskh or in red with occasional overlining in red, some diagrams and charts in the text, one illustrated map of the globe, a few smudges else clean and crisp internal condition; contemporary blind-stamped tan leather over boards, extremities lightly rubbed and a little scuffed.