Octavo. 202 X 115 mm. Single volume, eight sections in one, illuminated manuscript on buff paper, in Farsi. 160 leaves (uncollatable, catch-words indicating a few missing singles), double column, 17 lines informal cursive Naskh, 7 illuminated headings with gold and lapis decorations in an early Timurid style (of eight, one heading lacking due to paper repair along the upper edge of leaf: this is for the Ghazaliyyat chapter) and one illuminated banner in the text (with later illumination). Many leaves re-edged and repaired, leaves mottled from early damp-staining, some ink smudges; in early nineteenth-century brown morocco binding, possibly from Northern India, ruled in blind and stamped with tooled cartouches heightened in gilt; extremities lightly rubbed. This manuscript comes forms a very early collection of the Kolliyaat (collected poems) of the revered Persian poet Sa'adi Shirazi. Fihrist only lists two manuscripts that pre-date this example - these are: a manuscript example dated 791 AH / 1389 AD (Or.14158 BL), and a collection of miscellaneous 'Divan' which include five extracts from Sa'di's works, described as 14yh / 15th century (Or.5321 BL.) Text chapters in order: Kitab-i Badayi. Kitab al-Khawatim Ghazaliyyat (the 'al-qadim' (early) recension) Kitab Tarijy'at Kitab al-Mutayebat Hazliyat (Majalis al-awwal) Rabayat (100 quatrains) Mufradat (100 verses)