#getcaughtreading

Photo credit: One Love Productions

Ella and Lily Baginski like to enjoy a good book in comfort.

Get caught reading! May is the month of Get Caught Reading.

In the Persian tradition, whenever one faces a difficulty or a fork in the road, or even if one has a general question in mind, one would hold that question in mind, and then open the Divan (Book of Collected Poems) of Hafez of Shiraz (1315-1390) to a random page for guidance. It is widely believed that Hafez’s poetry will then reveal the answer to one's destiny.

This image shows a young prince kneeling before a sage, who is holding open the Divan of Hafez. The two pages to which the book is open show the initial lines of ghazal (verse) 32 of Hafez's Divan, which read (in Engl. translation):

            "When God designed your features and joined your brows

             Paved my way, then trapped me with your gestures & bows..."

According to guides on how to use the Divan of Hafez for divination, opening the Divan to the first 2 lines of verse 32 gives the following advice:

"The knot of your problems will be opened, provided you are wise. You will not resolve them with impatience and rushing."

This miniature is part of the album of Prince Dara Shikoh (1615-1659), eldest son of India's Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan, who gave this album as a present to his wife Nadira Banu Begam.

The Dara Shikoh Album is now held by the British Library (MS Add. Or. 3129, fol. 18). The Harvard Fine Arts Library has images of the miniatures from this album, recently digitized from original 35mm color slides in the Stuart Cary Welch Islamic and South Asian Photograph Collection. Harvard Fine Arts Library is the only place where you can find all the images from this manuscript digitally.

Have a happy Memorial Day Weekend, everybody. Hope you’ll find some time for reading!

detail from image 34: Dara Shikoh Album (British Library Add. Or. 3129) Dara Shikuh, Prince, 1615-1659, Indian [artist] Creation Date: c. early 17th century Materials/Techniques: gold and opaque watercolor on paper Historical: Dara Shikoh, eldest son of Shah Jahan, gave this album as a present to his wife Nadira Banu Begam miniatures (paintings)

Today, we’re highlighting Albus Dumbledore’s favorite reads! Don’t forget your Sherbet Lemon snacks while reading!

May is National Get Caught Reading Month. So, get caught reading!

Woman reading a book Tamamura, Kozaburo, Japanese , 1856 CE- [photographer] Studio portrait. Materials/Techniques: Hand-colored albumen print mounted on cardboard hinged in accordion-fold album. Dimensions: 27 x 21 cm.

Historical: Ernest Goodrich Stillman, the son of American financier and banker James Stillman, earned his BA from Harvard in 1908 and his MD from Columbia in 1913. He worked at the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research from 1915-1949. A generous benefactor of Harvard University, he had many interests, including photography and collecting Japanese art and literature. Regarded as an originator of "Yokohama shashin" for tourists, Tamamura Kozaburo opened his first studio in Tokyo in 1874 and then moved to Yokohama in 1883. For the next 30 years he became one of the most successful and popular commercial photographers in Japan by selling souvenir photograph albums to foreigners and taking profitable commissions from various organizations. He received many awards for his photography before his son Tamamura Kihei took over the business in 1916.

Provenance: Gift of E.G. Stillman to Widener Library, 1930, later transferred to the Fine Arts Library.

Today we’re celebrating Lucius Malfoy’s favorite read. We know it’s technically a muggle book, but we think he’d like it anyway. 

Source:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Princess_Bride

Today, we’re highlighting Madam Pomfrey’s favorite read. We’re sure she’s wanted to give this to a few first years once or twice.

Source: http://harrypotter.wikia.com/wiki/File:Madam_Pomfrey_(HP2_Promo).jpg