Italian watermarked paper, light brown, light cream, brownish-orange tint, watermarked flyleaves

Ingredients

Damascus paper, Italian paper, watermarked paper, tinted paper

Preparation Steps

Original Recipe Text

The text notes that Sātī purchased 'ninety-five large-sized sheets of paper' (ṭabaq-i kāghid-i qaṭʿ-i buzurg) from Damascus specifically for copying the Dīvān (p. 222). These sheets were roughly 73cm by 110cm ('full Baghdadi' size) or 65cm by 98cm ('reduced Baghdadi' size) before being cut and cropped for the manuscript (p. 222-223).

Evidence

"Sātī mentions that he bought ‘ninety-five large-sized sheets of paper’ (ṭabaq-i kāghid-i qaṭʿ-i buzurg) from Damascus for the specific purpose of copying the Dīvān. ... The 1351 copy [of Mirṣād al-ʿIbād] ... contains Italian watermarked paper."

Remarks

The paper quality improved over time in Sātī's commissions, becoming 'smoother and shinier' (p. 220). The 1366 Mas̲navī-i Valadī features light brown paper, 0.3mm thick per folio, with 35mm chain line spacing (p. 220). The 1368 Dīvān and 1372 Mas̲navī use interleaved cream and brownish-orange papers; the Dīvān's orange paper has 55mm chain line spacing (p. 220-221). The 1351 copy of Mirṣād al-ʿIbād is noted as the 'earliest known instance of watermarked paper in a securely identified manuscript from Rūm' (p. 213). Rebound flyleaves contain European watermarks: 'VIACCAVA' with a crown, an anchor in a circle (15th/16th c.), a crescent with a face (French, late 16th c.), and a crossbow in a circle (Italian, 16th/17th c.) (p. 223-224).