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چکیده
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Handbooks for Persian Insha (=epistolography) are among frequent titles in Persian manuscripts collections of the world, which have been catalogued mostly under some formal titles i.e. Monša’āt ( منشآت ) or Tarassol ( ترسل ). During the reign of Safavid dynasty over Persia (1501-1722), by considering the increased need of the governmental bureaucratic system, in which a huge num-ber of scribes for official correspondences worked, Persian epistolography reached a notable level of perfection. As a result, a new format for epistolary handbooks was normally prepared and compiled in form of pocket manuscripts aiming to instruct young scribes. This new format characterised itself both in terms of appearance (size, script, paper, illumination, etc.) and the content (text structure, chaptering, literary style, etc.). This article aims to identify and introduce the characteristics of Persian epistolography hand-books from Safavid era as well as to introduce a series of key indicators for identification of this kind based on the key features of the existing examples in terms of appearance and content.
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