ĀDĀB AL-MAŠQ (“Manual of penmanship”), a short essay on writing the nastaʿlīq hand by the noted Safavid calligrapher Mīr ʿEmād (q.v., 961-1024/1553-54 to 1615-16). It has been argued that the actual author is Bābāšāh Eṣfahānī (Bayānī, Ḵošnevīsān II, pp. 87-89; see also pp. 518-38). The text discusses such topics as the qualities of a calligrapher, pen exercises, rules of penmanship, ink preparation, and the various kinds of paper.

Bibliography:

First publication in Taḏkera-ye Sanglāḵ, Tabrīz, 1291/1874.

Separate publication, Tehran, 1308/1890.

Lith. ed., 1317/1899-1900 (see Mošār, Fehrest I, cols. 22-23).

(M. Dabīrsīāqī)

Originally Published: December 15, 1983

Last Updated: July 22, 2011

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Vol. I, Fasc. 4, p. 446