This article investigates aspects of mise-en-page in British Library Add. MS. 27261, an anthology of twenty-three texts on mixed subjects produced for Eskandar Soltān (d. 818/1415), grandson of Timur and self-styled ruler of territories in southern Iran during the early fifteenth century. It examines the juxtaposition of literary and scientific texts together with images in Add. MS. 27261, and explores the correlations that these juxtapositions create. It concludes that the London anthology should be seen as a coherent intellectual enterprise, and as an interpretative project designed to feed Eskandar’s experiments with different forms of knowledge.

This article presents a very rare manuscript of a Muntakhab al-Suwar (selection of Qur’anic chapters) calligraphed by Ibrāhīm Sulṭān b. Shāhrukh. This manuscript was transcribed in large format in Ramaḍān 830 AH/June 1427 AD and endowed to the holy shrine of Shāh-Chirāgh in Ramaḍān 834 AH/May‒June 1431 AD. Therefore, it is considered to be one of the last known works calligraphed by Ibrāhīm Sulṭān. It is kept in the Pars museum in Shiraz. In this article, the unique codicology and special characteristics of this masterpiece are studied, and the important historical aspects of Ibrāhīm Sulṭān and the art works attributed to him are elaborated. The style of his calligraphy will also be examined to find out the sources of inspiration for his distinct style.

This article looks at the efforts China and Iran made towards strengthening themselves and their search for independence and integrity after the First World War. Since the nineteenth century, the two countries had been in a similar situation, under pressure from treaties and rivalries with European powers. The change of the world order brought about by the 1914–18 war created an opportunity for China and Iran to claim back their rights, such as ending extra-territoriality. After the war, the Fourteen Points drawn up by the American president, Woodrow Wilson, gave hope for China and Iran to maintain their independence and integrity. During the Paris Peace Conference of 1919, China and Iran made both gains and losses. China was unable to solve the Shandong Problem but became one of the founding members of the League of Nations, while Iran did not get access to the Peace Conference but obtained Britain’s assurance of independence and integrity by signing the Anglo-Iranian Treaty of 1919, and then joined the League of Nations. China and Iran attempted to bring about cooperation between Asian countries, and therefore signed a treaty in 1920. The significance of the treaty was that the two countries agreed not to grant extra-territoriality to each other, which was what both countries were seeking to achieve at that time.