Or 13983

This volume contains the following two mesneviler by Hüseyin Fazıl, also known as Fazıl-i Enderuni or Enderunlu Fazıl Bey, who died in 1225 AH (1810 CE) :

(I) ff 1v-38r : Hubanname, on the qualities of the youths of various nations ;

(II) ff 38v-73r : Zenanname, on the merits and defects of the women of various nations. Many of the texts in this mesnevi contain misogynistic content.

The text contains identical gilt unvanlar with floral designs on ff 1v and 38v.

There are six illustrations throughout the work (ff 8v, 21v, 30r, 53r, and 61v), most portraying youth conversing indoors and outdoors. In the first two illustrations (ff 8v and 21v), there appears the figure of an older man, possibly a representation of the poet himself, Fazıl Bey Enderuni.

Only in the first painting (f 8v) is there any apparent connection with the subject matter of the text, and here it is a young Ethiopian woman, rather than man, who is portrayed.

The colophon of the manuscript gives the year of copying in ebced form as غرنذ, which is evidently a mistake for غرند, since ذ represents 700 and د four. Thus the correct date is almost certainly 1254 AH (1838-39 CE). The copyist of the work calls himself Seyit Süleyman el-halis min telamiz Hafız Abdürrahman el-Tevfiki.