An 18th century facsimile of Samuel Guise’s copy of the Ardā Wīrāz-nāmag (The Book of Ardā Wīrāz). This part is about Zoroastrian visions of heaven and hell.

The Ardā Wīrāz-nāmag, like many of the Zoroastrian works, underwent successive redactions. It assumed its definitive form in the 9th-10th centuries A.D., as may be seen in the text’s frequent Persianisms, usages known to be characteristic of early Persian literature (e.g., generalized use of the durative particle hamē).

This book has become comparatively well known to the Iranian public, thanks to its numerous versions in modern Persian (often versified and with illustrations).

Source: Included with some of the earliest engravings of Zoroastrian manuscripts in William Ouseley’s Oriental Collections. British Library SV 400, vol. 2 part 3, facing p. 318.