On 3 September 2025, Dr. Jalal Khaleghi-Motlagh entrusted the manuscripts behind his critical edition of Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh—including initial drafts and fair copies—to the Department of Iranian Studies (Iranistik) at the University of Hamburg. During a meeting attended by Prof. Dr. Shervin Freidenzhad, Dr. Khaleghi-Motlagh outlined his editing approach, collation process, and handling of footnotes and variant readings.

The report notes heavy corrections in the earliest drafts; one opening page of the Dībāche-ye Shahnameh bears the date “5.7.81.” It also describes the manuscripts’ sigla (in Latin script) and instances where extra sheets were glued in when space ran short.

Regarding the fair-copy binders, the author records: Volume I and II are complete; Volume III is entirely missing; Volume IV is preserved up to “On Jahn’s Arrival” (the remainder missing); parts of Volume V are missing (including the stories of Lohrasp, Esfandiar’s Seven Trials, and Rostam and Esfandiar); Volumes VI and VII are absent because they were edited by Dr. Mahmoud Omidsalar and Dr. Abolfazl Khatibi; Volume VIII is complete. In total, seventeen binders exist. Some materials are unavailable because originals were sent to the printer; others are reported as “lost.”

A downloadable PDF version of the report and several manuscript images accompany the announcement. For more images, readers are invited to visit the original post.