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Islamic Manuscript Studies

Resources for the study of manuscripts produced in the Islamic world and the manuscript cultures they represent.

Collection provided research guides

Small selection of collection-related guides provided by curators in the institutions where they are preserved.

United Kingdom

Europe

North America

Collection user guides and reviews from Dissertation Reviews

"Founded in 2010, Dissertation Reviews is a new site that features overviews of recently defended, unpublished doctoral dissertations in a wide variety of disciplines across the Humanities and Social Sciences...Dissertation Reviews also features reviews of and guides to archives, libraries, databases, and other collections where such dissertation research was conducted, to help scholars improve their ability to undertake current and future research." (read more

Browse all "Fresh From the Archives" posts

Collection user guides from HAZİNE

"In the Ottoman Empire, the hazine was the treasury, a storehouse in which courtiers found books to read, scribes deposited documents, and clerks stowed away precious objects that arrived from around the empire.

We started HAZİNE in the hopes of creating a similar storehouse of information for scholars researching the Middle East and the Islamic world at large. There are so many archives, libraries, museums, and other research centers with material on the Middle East that it is often hard to know where to begin one’s research. At the same time, many smaller archives and collections are overshadowed by the massive resources of state institutions. Instead of each researcher beginning on his or her own, acquiring a few tricks of the trade from more seasoned researchers, we hope researchers will use HAZİNE to acquaint themselves with these collections, large and small, and jump directly into the research.

For the moment, our reviews focus on resources on the Ottoman Empire, but in the future we hope to expand further and provide resources for different geographical regions such as North Africa and South Asia. We also plan to include collections of material objects found in art or ethnography museums."

(read more)

Other collection guides by location, etc.

Bayraktar, Nimet and Mihin Lugal. "I. Türkiye Yazma Eser Kütüphaneleri [= I. Libraries of Manuscript Works]" In Bibliography on Manuscript Libraries in Turkey and the Publications on the Manuscripts Located in These Libraries. (Istanbul: Research Centre for Islamic History, Art and Culture, 1995): 1-68.

Hendrickson, Jocelyn. "A Guide to Arabic Manuscript Libraries in  Morocco, with Notes on Tunisia, Algeria, Egypt, and Spain,” MELA Notes 81 (2008): 15–88.

_______ and Sabahat Adil. "A Guide to Arabic Manuscript Libraries in Morocco: Further Developments." MELA Notes 86 (2013): 1-19

Khalidi, Omar. "A Guide to Arabic, Persian, Turkish, and Urdu Manuscript Libraries in India." MELA Notes 75-76 (2002-2003): 1-59. 

_______ . "A Guide to Arabic, Persian, Turkish, and Urdu Manuscript Libraries in India." MELA Notes 84 (2011): 1-85.

Khalidov, Anas B. "Collections of Islamic Manuscripts in the Former Soviet Union and Their Cataloguing." In The Significance of Islamic Manuscripts. Proceedings of the Inaugural Conference of Al-Furqān Islamic Heritage Foundation 30th November-1st December 1991, Ed. J.Cooper (London: Al-Furqān Islamic Heritage Foundation, 1992): 31-44.

Zarrinal, Navid. "Finding Your Way Around Tehran's Public Archives." Jadaliyya 24 May 2017 available online 


Collection guides from MANUMED

Browse or search for details on libraries located in the Mediterranean regions via MANUMED's search engine (interface available in French, Arabic and English)