Folio from Persia's 11th-century Book of Kings is headed to auction

What an auction house calls one of the “finest illustrated manuscripts in existence” is set to go up for sale next month.

The Guardian reports that a folio from the Shah Tahmasp Shahnameh, aka the Book of Kings, could bring between £4 million and £6 million ($4.6 million to $6.9 million) at auction.

The Shahnameh is an epic poem of rhyming couplets telling the history of Persia's rulers, written by Persian poet Ferdowsi between 977 and 1010.

Two great Persian painters, a father-son duo, contributed the magnificent illustrations to the work.

It was commissioned by Shah Tahmasp and given as a diplomatic gift to an Ottoman emperor.

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