Surname-i Hümayun, Ottoman, 1588AD.
Illustrated by Nakkaş Osman and his team.
Ms. Haz. 1344, Topkapi Palace Museum, Istanbul.

The Surname-i Hümayun (Imperial Festival Book) or Sur-namé of Murad III, was commissioned in 1582 by the Sultan Murad III. It is a Turkish work describing the 52-day festivities organized for the circumcision ceremony of Şehzade Mehmet, son of Murad.

The work, which turned the festivities into a pictorial story with 250 double-page miniatures, was completed on 14 March 1588 and presented to the sultan. The only copy is in the Topkapı Palace Museum Library. It is registered as Hazine 1344. The Sur-name, whose text was written by the author with the pseudonym "İntizamî", was illustrated by Nakkaş Osman and his team. It is not certain whether the original of the text belongs to Seyyid Lokman, the Şahnameci, or to another Rumelian author using the pen name İntizamî.

The importance of the work comes from the miniatures produced by Nakkaş Osman. The Sur-name contains 250 double miniatures in full page size. Today there remain 432 leaves and 427 miniatures. These miniatures, which are historical documents in terms of presenting sections from the daily life of the period and giving occupational groups, are also considered as successful works of art.

A single composition repeats throughout the work, and the festival is depicted from the same point and with the same decor in all miniatures: At the Hippodrome, where the festivities take place, the movement starts from the right side, where the guest box and the public spectators are located; it continues on the left side where the palace and the sultan's lodge are located. The presenters, passing in front of the public and the guest lodge, advance towards the sultan; after saying their prayers and presenting their gifts, they demonstrate their skills. In this way, the festival is told from the beginning to the end through the eyes of the sultan.

Source: Turkish Wikipedia

Other small images (some images are reversed).

Images of double pages
075 078 080 081 082 083 084 085 086 087 088 100 121 134 135 136 137 138 140 141 B31 B48 B104 B108 B116 B129
Images of one of the double pages
004 006 025 062 063 065 066 067 069 070 071 072 073 094 096 117 camcilar fol.98a gumus_kap_yapanlar B10 B11 B12 B14 B15 B18 B41 B42 B43 B44 B45 B46 B47 B59 B84 B86 B91 B92 B114 B135
Detail Images
001 002 003 B67 005 008 009 010 011 012 013 014 015 016 017 018 019 020 021 022 023 024 026 027 028 029 030 031 032 033 034 035 036 037 038 039 040 041 042 043 044 045 046 047 048 049 050 051 052 053 054 055 056 057 059 060 061 089 090 091 092 093 095 097 098 099 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 118 119 120 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 139 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 151 B9 B20 B28 B62 B81 B95 B96 B100 B107 B110 B113 B131

Images source: Nurhan Atasoy Archive at the Turkish Cultural Foundation
Some are listed under Ms. B200 rather than Haz. 1344.

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