Foreign publishers offer rare copies of Shahnameh and maps of Persia

TEHRAN,May 6(MNA) -- Copies of a rare edition of the epic masterpiece of Ferdowsi, the Shahnameh, and two collections of maps of Persia have been offered at the 25th Tehran International Book Fair (TIBF). “The Shahnama of Shah Tahmasp” printed by the U.S. Yale Books can be found at the pavilion of the Publications of Vijeh Nashr, an Iranian company importing English and Arabic books published by foreign publishers. Vijeh Nashr is also the representative of RotoVision, Routledge Books, Continuum Publishing Company, Taylor & Francis Books and several other foreign publishers at the TIBF. “General Maps of Persia” and “Special Maps of Persia” both published by Brill Publishers, another U.S. company, are also on sale at the pavilion of the Iranian publisher. The maps, which have been published in two collections, have been gathered by Cyrus Alai, a U.S.-based Iranian expert on ancient maps. “The Shahnama of Shah Tahmasp” is one of four historical copies of Ferdowsi’s epic masterpiece. Experts believe that the edition, which was commissioned by the Safavid king Shah Tahmasb in the early 17th century, is the best-adorned version of this book. The Shahnameh of Baysunqur is another edition of the book, which was created in 1430 for Prince Baysunqur (1399-1433) who was the grandson of Timur (1336-1405), the Turkic ruler of Central Asia. The book, which is kept in the library of Golestan Palace in Tehran, was inscribed on UNESCO’s Memory of the World Register list in 2007. The other outstanding copies of Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh are the 14th-century Demotte Shahnameh made for the Ilkhanid patron Ghiyath ad-Din Muhammad Oz Beg and the 16th-century Houghton Shahnameh, which are being preserved in other countries.