Research Guides: Islamic Manuscript Studies : Digitized collections online

Online collections of digitized Islamic manuscripts

This list includes but a selection of the various collections of digitized manuscripts available online, here organized by collection location.

Extent and quality of the digital surrogate vary, as do navigation, display and download.

From some of these repositories, digitized manuscripts may be downloaded in their entirety as pdf files. In other cases, only image by image viewing is possible, but for the complete manuscript. In some cases these images may be downloaded or printed. In still other cases, only a few representative images are provided for each manuscript.

For additional collections, browse or search broader repositories such as the British Library's Endangered Archives Programme

East Asia

Japan

Daiber Collection Database, The Arabic Manuscripts in the Daiber Collection, Institute of Oriental Culture, University of Tokyo (Japan)
http://ricasdb.ioc.u-tokyo.ac.jp/daiber/db_index_eng.html
“This searching system is released for using the original catalogue attached (including titles, author and additional bibliographical information) and the digitized images of Daiber collection at the same time. The corresponding images are linked from the bibliographical information written in the catalogue.
This collection is the corpus of manuscripts mainly focused on Arabic, collected by Dr. Hans Daiber, a professor of Islamic studies in Germany, over many years. Institute of Oriental Culture, University of Tokyo purchased the collection, its first part in 1986-1987 and its second part in 1994.”

Southeast Asia and Oceania

Malaysia

.MyManuskrip (Digital Library of Malay Manuscripts)

“.MyManuskrip or Digital Library of Malay Manuscript enables repositories within Malaysia and those outside to participate in building and offering manuscript content as well as outputs of manuscript research such as articles, reports, theses and links to relevant sites. As such, repositories, cultural and national heritage centers, manuscript libraries and museums are invited to share and provide access to their manuscript contents and expert knowledge concerning Malay scriptorium.

We now have 4 collections and more than 179 titles of manuscripts in our archive.”

Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka Manuscripts

http://mymanuskrip.fsktm.um.edu.my/Greenstone/cgi-bin/library.exe?e=p-00000-00---off-0--00---0-10-0---0---0prompt-10---4-------0-1l--10-en-50---20-home---0--1-00-0-0-01-1-0utfZz-8-00&a=d&c=dewanbah&cl=CL1

University of Malaysia Manuscripts

Riau manuscripts: the gateway to the Malay intellectual world

https://eap.bl.uk/project/EAP153

"There are small collections of documents in the Riau Archipelago, which may throw new light on our appreciation of the wider Malay-Muslim world. However, these collections are in private hands, have not had the benefit of professional archival care, and are being cannabilised for commercial sale by antique hunters. There is a strong possibility of these documents being lost forever if this situation continues unchecked...The Riau Archipelago spreads over a vast geographic area in the triangle between Sumatra, Singapore and the Borneo . During the nineteenth century the area was part of the Dutch East Indies and considered to be the core area of Malay language and culture, and the heir to the legendary port/state of Malacca. In their endeavour to standardize the Malay language, Dutch officials collected manuscripts from the archipelago; these manuscripts became the basis for a standard grammar and dictionary of the Malay language. This collection process not only resulted in several large repositories of Malay manuscripts, but also kindled a renaissance of Malay writing at the court of Riau and beyond. The remnants of this manuscript and book culture can still be found in private collections of books and manuscripts scattered throughout the region...This [Endangered Archives Programme] project aims to preserve through digitisation and list private collections of documents for future generations to enhance possibilities to gain a better understanding of Malay intellectual history. The preservation of these documents is important for the people who own them, as well as as for scholars who want to study the dissemination of ideas throughout the Malay World."

Indonesia

Manuscripts from the island of Ambon (Central Moluccas, Indonesia)

https://eap.bl.uk/project/EAP276

"During the [Endangered Archives Programme] project, eleven villages were visited on the islands of Ambon and Haruku. 182 manuscripts were digitised from the villages of Hila, Hitu Lama, Hitu Messeng, Kaitetu, Morella and Seith in Ambon, and Kabau and Pelalu on the islands of Haruku, held by 12 owners or keepers.

The manuscripts contain a wide variety of subjects, such as genealogies, epic tales, poetry, Alquran, prayers, sermons, and official documents. Most of the Ambon manuscripts are in the form of rotulus (vertical rolls) kept in a protective sheath of bamboo; the paper is mostly European,while in some cases dluwang or native paper or blank paper is used. Languages used in the texts are Arabic, an Ambon dialect of Malay, and Dutch. Writing systems used are Arabic, Jawi (Arabic-Malay scripts) and Latin.

The Ambon manuscripts which have been digitised remain with their original owners. The digital copies have been deposited with the National Library of the Republic of Indonesia (PNRI), Library of the University of Indonesia, the British Library and with the manuscript owners. The project has helped to raise awareness amongst local people of the importance of preserving the cultural legacy inherited from their ancestors."

Acehnese manuscripts from Pidie and Aceh Besar regencies (Aceh, Indonesia)

https://eap.bl.uk/project/EAP229

https://eap.bl.uk/project/EAP329

"This project is a continuation of the previous pilot project which surveyed and located Acehnese manuscripts privately held by collectors in Pidie and Aceh Besar regencies. The pilot project identified and listed 405 manuscripts with 46,029 pages in total, written between the 17th and 20th centuries.

These important and vulnerable manuscripts are to be found in Pidie and Aceh Besar regencies. The content of the manuscripts is a part of Acehnese history with regards to lifestyle, the kingdom of Aceh, and the war against colonialism. They also relate to Islamic knowledge and Islamic mysticism (Sufism) and its order. However, the manuscripts are highly endangered. They are not kept in the best of conditions to aide their preservation, mainly through lack of knowledge and resources. They are often attacked by insects and some of them have been corroded by the ink used or have water damage. Conflicts and natural disasters in Aceh have also had a bad effect on the manuscripts.

To preserve them from destruction and further decay, immediate action must be taken for their preservation. One of the best actions that is the most urgent to perform is to digitise them to prevent the total loss of this cultural heritage.

The pilot project won the confidence of the collectors to preserve their manuscripts through digitisation and they understand the reason and the benefit of copying them. This major project will establish complete digital copies and lists of the manuscripts that will be useful for the owners and future scholars. Digital copies will be deposited with the Aceh Information and Documentation Centre, the National Library of Indonesia and the British Library. A printed copy of their manuscript will be given to each owner."

Manuscripts of the Legacy of the Sultanate of Buton, South-Eastern Sulawesi Province, Indonesia

https://eap.bl.uk/project/EAP212

"This [Endangered Archives Programme] project will conduct an inventory survey of around 830 Butonese manuscripts from eight private collections held in Bau-Bau, Maligano, and Kendari, and will search for other families owning manuscripts in the insular region of the former Butonese Sultanate, which is now included in the territory of South-Eastern Sulawesi Province, Indonesia....The Butonese manuscripts are mostly written on European paper in the Arabic and Wolio languages using Jawi - Wolio script. A few others were written in the Buginese and Dutch languages using the respective scripts. These manuscripts were written and copied between the 17th and the 20th centuries. Their contents are manifold, among them are legends, genealogies, various correspondence (such as official letters, contract letters, personal letters), and accounts of traditional ceremonies. Other manuscripts contain Islamic teaching and Sufism, Islamic mysticism, Arabic grammar, Al-Qur'an, language, traditional maritime knowledge of sea navigation, chronicles, Butonese traditional laws (such as taxation, customary law, maritime law, Islamic law), traditional medicine, and divination manuals (astrology, prognosis, and interpretation of dreams). These documents are important sources for the study of language, literature, local Islam, traditional political history, culture and society in Indonesia...This project will produce a written survey report and digital samples of selected manuscripts from the eight collections that have been identified. Since this is a pilot project, not all manuscripts will be photographed at this stage. Agreements will be drawn up with their owners for complete filming in the future. Other collections will also be located and permission sought to photograph their manuscripts at a later stage. If permission is obtained, it is hoped this pilot project will lead to the development of a major research project for digitising these Butonese manuscripts, conducting training for the owners of the collections and local staff working in relevant institutions in South-Eastern Sulawesi Province, in order to preserve the manuscripts from total destruction and help save them for the future."

Cirebon manuscripts (West Java, Indonesia)

https://eap.bl.uk/project/EAP211

"Cirebon was one of the important Islamic Sultanates in Java, together with Demak and Banten, and had been a centre for Islamic learning and the dissemination of Islamic teachings in West Java. Cirebon was also considered to be one of the cultural centres in the Indonesian archipelago, which can be seen in its manuscripts. These Cirebon manuscripts will contribute towards the understanding of Islamic intellectual and cultural heritages, and will help to reconstruct how Islam spread in West Java in the period of the 15th century to the first half of the 20th century...They include Qur'an and religious manuscripts, the story of puppet shadow (wayang), genealogy of Cirebon sultans, traditional healings, literatures, Cirebon traditional chronicles, Javanese Islamic mysticism written as poetry (Suluk), divining manuals, and manuscripts of talismans. The majority of them are physically in quite a fragile condition. This [Endangered Archives Programme] project will cover the whole area of the former Cirebon Sultanate (including Kasepuhan, Kanoman, Kacirebonan, and Kaprabon), Pengguron and Sanggar, starting in those where the manuscript conditions are precarious...The project succeeded in digitising 176 manuscripts, 17,361 pages. The manuscripts were held at the Sultanate Library and private collections. The manuscripts consist of: Quran and religious credo traditional healings, literatures, Cirebon traditional cronicles, Javanese Islamic mysticism, the story of puppets shadows, and the geneology of Cirebon Sultans. Digital copies have been deposited with the National Library of the Republic of Indonesia, the British Library, the Library of PPIM UIN (the State Islamic University), and Museum Istiqlal."

Minangkabau's manuscript collections in Suraus (West Sumatra, Indonesia)

https://eap.bl.uk/project/EAP144

"The main aim of the project is to digitise 250 manuscripts from five suraus in West Sumatra. These manuscripts contain various texts such as Al-Qur'an, Al-Qur'an Translation (Tafsir), Tasawuf, Fiqh, Agiography (The Stories of the Saints), Arabic Grammar, Minangkabau Laws, Kaba, Hikayat, Nazam, Azimat, Letters and Medicine which hold important information for Minangkabau culture and Islamic history. They will contribute greatly to the study of Islam, Tasawuf, Traditional Laws, Language, Literature, Culture, and Medicine in Indonesia.

The manuscripts are mostly written on European papers, some are written on traditional paper (Daluang) in the Arabic, Malay and/or Minangkabau language using Arabic or Perso-Arabic letters. They were written and copied in the 18 th and 19 th centuries. Some are now seriously neglected and decaying, the inks are washed out, pages are ripped apart and rotten. It is made worse by the fact that they are not kept in proper conditions and are piled up in rooms or above the ceiling in suraus together with other material.

Surau Lubuk Ipuh, Pariaman has 70 manuscripts with approximately 14,000 pages in total; Surau Bintungan Tinggi, Pariaman has 30 manuscripts with approximately 6,000 pages overall; Surau Pariangan, Batusangkar has 70 manuscripts with 14,000 pages in total; Surau Malalo, Solok has 50 manuscripts with 10,000 pages overall and Surau Tanjung, Pesisir Selatan has 30 manuscripts with a total of 6,000 pages."

Manuscripts from five suraus in West Sumatra

https://eap.bl.uk/project/EAP144

"These manuscripts contain various texts such as Al-Qur'an, Al-Qur'an Translation (Tafsir), Tasawuf, Fiqh, Agiography (The Stories of the Saints), Arabic Grammar, Minangkabau Laws, Kaba, Hikayat, Nazam, Azimat, Letters and Medicine which hold important information for Minangkabau culture and Islamic history. They will contribute greatly to the study of Islam, Tasawuf, Traditional Laws, Language, Literature, Culture, and Medicine in Indonesia.

Islamic manuscripts of Indonesian Pondok Pesantren

https://eap.bl.uk/project/EAP061

"Pondok Pesantren are traditional Islamic schools that since their establishment have become centres for Islamic learning and the dissemination of Islamic knowledge in Indonesia, where Islamic knowledge is taught formally and Islamic values are practised daily. Their role as institutions of Islamic learning and centres for the dissemination of Islamic teaching in Indonesia can be clearly seen from their manuscripts...This [Endangered Archives Programme] project was successful in digitising manuscript collections in three Pondok Pesantren: Pondok Pesantren Langitan, Tuban, established in 1852 by KH. Muhammad Nur; Pondok Pesantren Tarbiyyah al-Thalabah, Keranji, established in 1898 by KH Musthofa; and Pondok Pesantren Tegalsari, Jetis Ponorogo, established in the 18th century by Kyai Mohammed Besari."

Endangered manuscripts of Western Sumatra and the province of Jambi. Collections of Sufi brotherhoods

https://eap.bl.uk/project/EAP352

"This [Endangered Archives Programme] project deals with written Islamic heritage in Arabic and Jawi (Arabic Malay) of two regions - Western Sumatra (Minangkabau region) and Jambi, specifically Sufi collections of manuscripts mainly from two Sufi brotherhoods: Shattariyah and Naqshbandiyah. From the point of view of Islamic Studies it is interesting to note that many Sufi surau collections possess the treatises on the peculiarities of regional Islam such as the history of local Islam, agiographical works and works on Naqshbandiyah and Shattariyah mystical conceptions written by local shaikhs. The manuscripts describing suluk mystical ritual can be especiallly distinguished as the ritual of suluk is practiced only in the remote corners of Sumatra and is considered to be old-fashioned and unpopular among young generations of Muslims. There are also interesting examples of al-Qur’an and works on traditional medicine in Jambi....During the work it is planned to make digital copies of about 100-120 manuscripts. Copies will be received by Andalas University of Padang, Philological Faculty and National Library of Indonesia in Jakarta as well as the British Library."

Australia

Middle Eastern Manuscripts, University of Melbourne (Australia)

http://dtl.unimelb.edu.au/R/4YNJE4X6GJ5REAQGY99P25YN9VTHNJE9KCUU4UADKXNR2E4XPX-02914?func=collections-result&collection_id=5363

Selection of digitized manuscripts from the University of Melbourne.

“The core of the Middle Eastern Studies Collection was given to the University of Melbourne Library in 1972 by the then Department of Middle Eastern Studies. The collection consisted chiefly of microfilms, but included more than 100 original manuscripts housed from that time onwards in the Special Collections. Over time this has grown to 183 manuscripts, many of which are beautiful works of art with interesting calligraphy and decoration.The manuscripts are written mostly in Persian and Arabic, with a few in Urdu, Syriac Turkish and other languages. Most manuscripts in the collection were written in the nineteenth century, but some may date back to the fifteenth century. There are a number of Qurans, but the collection is not exclusively Islamic: it also includes a Maronite Christian prayerbook in Arabic and a Syriac Christian commentary on the Gospels. There are also grammars, dictionaries and a few fictional and poetic works.”

South Asia

Pakistan

Retrieval, cataloguing and photographic imaging of rare manuscripts, Balochistan-Pakistan

https://eap.bl.uk/project/EAP766

"This [Endangered Archives Programme] pilot project seeks to address this imbalance in the available sources of Balochistan’s history and culture by identifying, documenting, and beginning to preserve historical source materials in native languages. The vast majority of these source materials are in the form of hand-written manuscripts held by individuals or families in Balochistan. These include histories (Tawarikh), exegetical texts (Sharah and Tafasir), proclamations (Sanads/ Farmans), and letters (Maktubat). These are extremely vulnerable and perishable documents that are likely to be lost forever if timely intervention is not made for identification, preservation and conservation. A collaboration between scholars, the staff of the Balochistan Archives and the University of Texas at Austin Libraries will create catalogues of, and strategies for, digitally preserving these materials for dissemination to a larger scholarly community."

Sri Lanka

Manuscripts of the Sri Lankan Malays (Sri Lanka)

https://eap.bl.uk/project/EAP450

"The aim of this [Endangered Archives Programme] pilot project is to survey and document surviving manuscript and print materials in the Malay language and to digitally photograph a sample of them. The findings from this pilot project help develop a major project in the future. Such a future project would strive to archive all surviving materials and to place copies in repositeries that would be available to all scholars interested in Islam, the literary, political and social dynamics of the Malay world, and patterns of circulation and transmission across the Indian Ocean.

It is important to note that although the focus of the project is on materials composed in Malay, it is highly likely that sections of manuscripts or even entire manuscripts will be written in Arabic and/or Arabu-Tamil (the Tamil language written in Arabic script). Because all three languages (Malay, Arabic and Tamil) were written using the Arabic script close attention is required in surveying and deciphering such content. There is also the possibility of discovering passages in Persian and/or local Indonesian languages like Javanese or Bugis, spoken by the ancestors of today’s Malays. These writings will offer concrete and important evidence to the Malays’ global contacts with Muslims in the Middle East, Southeast Asia and India.

The first phase of the project would involve surveying and listing the manuscripts and books in all known collections belonging to individuals and families across Sri Lanka, primarily in Colombo and Kandy, and their vicinities. A network of contacts and acquaintances has already been established from previous research trips, who are enthusiastic about the prospect of preserving the community’s heritage.

In addition to surveying and listing the materials, awareness-raising meetings will be held with community members, leaders and local scholars to explain the importance and ultimate goals of the project as well as provide information about manuscript preservation techniques."

Maldives

Maldives Heritage Survey Manuscript Viewer

https://maldivesheritage.oxcis.ac.uk/index.php/manuscript-viewer/

"The MHS Manuscript Viewer is a web interface providing access to Deep Zoom images of texts on paper and engraved on copper plates related to the history of the Maldives. The materials presented here include manuscripts digitized by our Survey Team in the field and in the collections of the Maldives National Museum in Malé, as well as scans generously provided with permission by the Maldives National Archives." R. Michael Feener editor, Maldives Heritage Survey

Collections cover Islamic devotional texts and Qur'an manuscripts along with endowments, letters and other documents.

North Africa, Southwest Asia (Middle East) and Central Asia

African Online Digital Library

http://aodl.org/

Numerous digitized materials documenting African experiences including manuscripts of Muslim communities

Algeria

Manuscripts of Bou Saada, provided via e-corpus by the Association for the protection of the town's heritage

~~http://www.e-corpus.org/fre/notices/148250-Collection-des-manuscrits&nbsp-.html~~

Tunisia

Bibliothèque nationale de Tunisie (National Library of Tunisia)

https://www.bibliotheque.nat.tn/?page_id=10202

Selection of digitized manuscripts, part of Khaldounia Numérique https://www.bibliotheque.nat.tn/?page_id=8705&lang=fr

Jerusalem

Arabic Manuscripts Digital Library of Jerusalem القدس

~~http://digital-library.alquds-manuscripts.org/~~

“Developed within the framework of project Manumed, financed by the European Union and the region Provence Alpes Côte d’Azur, ‘The Arabic Manuscripts Digital Library of Jerusalem’ aims to promote the written heritage of East Jerusalem and to make this heritage accessible to all with the sole caveat of an internet connection. It relies on the latest technology to provide access which is simple, multimedia and multilingual.

Partners Libraries: the Khalidi Library, the Budeiri Library, the Al-Aqsa Library and Islamic Museum, the Al Ansari Library and The Waqf Restoration Center.”

Digital copies of manuscripts preserved in the Khalidi Library and Al Budeiry Library are now available in the virtual reading room of the Hill Museum & Manuscript Library, vHMML

https://www.vhmml.org/readingRoom/view/508697 (click on the Repository link to view list of all 1679)

https://www.vhmml.org/readingRoom/view/517169 (click on the Repository link view list of all 1307)

For more on the Khalidi Library cf https://www.khalidilibrary.org/en

Al-Aqsa Mosque Library, Jerusalem (119 of 2000 MSS) القدس

https://eap.bl.uk/project/EAP521

“The main goal of this [Endangered Archives Programme] project is to preserve the historical manuscript collection housed at the Al-aqsa Mosque Library in Jerusalem. The Al-aqsa Library located at the heart of the Old City of Jerusalem serves as a primary research center for Islamic studies and as a reference library for scholars and students from Jerusalem and other Palestinian cities. The library’s rare and most valuable collection consists of approximately 2000 manuscripts. The manuscripts were acquired by the Al-aqsa Library from prominent scholars, private collections, and from libraries in Palestine that have ceased to exist. The materials selected for this project represent 119 manuscript titles in the most immediate need of preservation.”

Palestine

Great Omari Mosque Library (Gaza) غزة

https://dx.doi.org/10.15130/EAP1285

تعد مكتبة الجامع العمري الكبير من أهم وأعرق المكتبات الوطنية والارشيفات في فلسطين. ومع ذلك ، فإن المكتبة معرضة للخطر بسبب الافتقار إلى أساليب الحفاظ المناسبة، بالإضافة إلى تأثير الصراعات في المنطقة والغارات الجوية. سيساعد المشروع في حماية المخطوطات من خلال رقمنتها وتوفير ظروف تخزين مناسبة. تم تدريب الموظفين المحليين من قبل المتخصصين في متحف هيل ومكتبة المخطوطات لرقمنة المخطوطات والتعامل معها.

عدد المخطوطات الأصلية التي تم رقمنتها: 211 مخطوطة.

عدد الصور الرقمية: 25957 نسخة رقمية.

Al-Jazzar Mosque Library (Acre) عكا

https://eap.bl.uk/project/EAP399

"The main goal of this [Endangered Archives Programme] project is to digitise the historical manuscript collection from the holdings of the Al-Jazzar Mosque Library (Al-Ahmadiyya), located in the city of Acre in northern Israel. Digitisation is planned primarily as a preservation activity in order to create archival digital copies of the original materials that are at risk of deterioration. The materials selected for digitisation include a collection of 50 Arabic language manuscripts, dating back to the 14th century. These unique materials are of extreme historical importance, documenting the history and cultural heritage of Palestine. Digitisation will help to preserve these historical materials for current and future generations...The materials selected for this project are housed at Al-Jazzar Mosque Library in Acre that at one point was considered one of the best libraries for Islamic literature in the region. The manuscript collection contains 50 Arabic language titles that span over several Islamic periods from the 14th century A.D. to the end of the Ottoman rule in Palestine at the beginning of the 20th century. Most of the manuscripts relate to aspects of the Islamic religion, but also cover Arabic literature, the Arabic language, logic, math, and Sufism and provide a unique insight into centuries of Arabic culture in Palestine."

Manuscripts of An-Najah National University (Nablus) نابلس

المخطوطات | جامعة النجاح الوطنية

http://manuscripts.najah.edu/

"تحوي مكتبات جامعة النجاح الوطنية مجموعة كبيرة من المخطوطات القديمة الهامة التي تم جمعها من البيوت النابلسية العريقة التي تميزت بعلمائها وادبائها وشعرائها المشهورين، وقد قامت الجامعة بترميم هذه المخطوطات للحفاظ على هذه الثروة العلمية الهامة من التلف والاندثار. وقد شملت المجموعة كذلك بعض المخطوطات التي وصلت من مساجد يافا وعكا الجزار وغيرها، والتي تم تحقيق بعضها من قبل أساتذة الجامعة وتعرض على موقع الجامعة الإلكتروني للتعرف على هذا التراث العلمي النادر والفريد وإتاحة الفرصة بالقيام بتحقيقها."

Arabic, Persian and Turkish manuscripts in Digital Collections, National Library of Israel (Jerusalem)

~~http://dlib.nli.org.il/R/FN4QIVP3CY86JCDURN2XN36A2SSJED4GVSVFTPJ8P6I3FNDY51-09391?func=collections-result&collection_id=14534~~

~~Fully digitized manuscripts (mainly Arabic) from the collections of the National Library of Israel. Interface in Hebrew.~~

https://web.nli.org.il/sites/NLI/English/collections/Islam-Middle-Eastern/Pages/Manuscripts-in-the-Islam-and-Middle-East-Collection.aspx

Lebanon

Digitized Arabic manuscripts at the AUB Libraries (Beirut)

~~http://ddc.aub.edu.lb/projects/jafet/manuscripts/~~

https://lib-webarchive.aub.edu.lb/BorreLudvigsen/https://almashriq.hiof.no/ddc/projects/jafet/manuscripts/

https://www.aub.edu.lb/Libraries/asc/Collections/Pages/Manuscripts.aspx

Selection of fully digitized Arabic manuscripts from the collections of the American University of Beirut. Includes descriptive entry with each digitized manuscript.

Oman

Electronic Library | المكتبة الالكترونية

https://elibrary.mara.gov.om/

Portal of digitized Ibadi manuscripts and serials from several important collections in Oman, Zanzibar and the Mzab (Algeria)

مخطوطاتنا | وزارة التراث والثقافة

https://manuscripts.mhc.gov.om/ar/

Portal for digitized manuscripts (around 5,000) from the Ministry of History and Culture of Oman . Previews (roughly 10 openings) available without charge or registration. Otherwise, registration required and nominal fee to consult / download the manuscripts.

Qatar

كشاف البخاري

https://bukhari.islamweb.net/

Manuscripts, reading notes, etc related to Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī

Manuscripts from the British Library appearing in the Qatar Digital Library

http://www.qdl.qa/en/search/site/?f[0]=document_source%3Aarchive_source&f[1]=source_content_type%3AManuscript%20item

Qatar Digital Library

https://www.qdl.qa/en

Qatar National Library Digital Repository

https://ediscovery.qnl.qa/islandora/object/QNL%3AMANUSCRIPTS

Search or browse by title, language, subject, date, etc

Saudi Arabia

Manuscripts appearing in the digital library of Umm al-Qura University

جامعة أم القرى، المكتبة الرقمية، المخطوطات

https://uqu.edu.sa/lib/digital_library/scripts_subjects/en/

http://uqu.edu.sa/lib/digital_library/scripts_all/en

https://uqu.edu.sa/lib/digital_library/scripts_subjects/ar/

Manuscripts of King Saud University

المخطوطات | جامعة الملك سعود

http://makhtota.ksu.edu.sa/

"المخطوطات هي مؤلفات العلماء ومصنفاتهم وهي عبارة عن وثائق مكتوبة بخط اليد قبل عصر الطباعة وتقادم مع مرور الزمن.

وتعتبر المخطوطات من الثروات الإنسانية المهمة التي يجب المحافظة عليها من التلف.

ولذلك قامت جامعة الملك سعود بإنشاء موقع المخطوطات التي تحتوي على أكثر من احدى عشر ألف مخطوطة بحيث يستطيع الزائر تصفح المخطوطات وقرائتها.

وتحتوي المخطوطات على أحكام الشريعة وتفسير القرآن الكريم وغيرها من العلوم أخرى، كما أنها تحتوي على أبيات شعر بعدة لغات كالتركية والفارسية."

Yemen

Digital Bab al-Yemen

[see the Yemeni Manuscript Digitization Initiative and Zaydi Manuscript Tradition project for the latest developments including Yemeni Arabic Manuscripts at Leiden University Library and Yemeni manuscripts in the Princeton Digital Library of Islamic Manuscripts]

http://www.google.com/culturalinstitute/collection/the-digital-bab-al-yemen

http://www.digitalbabalyemen.org/

"The European Research Council (ERC) funded project aims to develop a digital online library assembling all manuscripts of Yemeni provenance from around the world...Presently, these manuscripts are located in libraries around the world and their potential loss and dispersal threatens valuable intellectual history to be forgotten, thus preventing them from receiving the recognition they deserve.

"The Digital Bab al-Yemen" is taking a big leap towards reuniting the Yemeni manuscripts scattered around the globe. Together with our partners, "The Digital Bab al-Yemen" is promoting excellence in scholarship on Yemeni manuscripts.

The main goal of the project is to establish a digital online platform containing all Yemeni manuscripts from around the globe. For this reason, the project has gained institutional and private manuscript holders as new partners. The project has attracted strong interest and participation from several public libraries in three European countries, including the State Libraries in Berlin and Munich, the Austrian National Library in Vienna and the University Library in Leiden.

Aside from the inclusion of the holdings in Yemen and the collections of the previously mentioned libraries, the project is cooperating with the Google Cultural Institute (GCI) and uses Google's excellent online infrastructure and storage space to provide thousands of manuscript pages in high resolution.

Starting in September 2014, "The Digital Bab al-Yemen" project at Freie Universität Berlin reunites the digitised scans of the Glaser collections from the libraries of Berlin, Vienna and Munich. "The Glaser Collections" is a universal online digital library hosted by the Google Cultural Institute and will contain 108 manuscripts -- almost every Glaser manuscript digitised in high resolution so far.

But reuniting the Glaser collections will only be the first step. Scattered in European and Yemeni libraries there are thousands of Yemeni manuscripts, some of them of inestimable value, that are not captured yet -- a scientific treasure that only waits to be discovered.

In the near future, we are aiming to re-unite all available catalogue data of Yemeni manuscripts in close cooperation with TIMA as well as the respective manuscript holding institutions inside and outside of Yemen."

Iran

Manuscripts of Malek National Library and Museum (Kitābkhānah va Mūzih-i Millī-i Malik)

کتابخانه کتابخانه و موزه ملی ملک

http://malekmuseum.org/artifact/search?type=4

Manuscripts of the Majlis (Parliament) Library

مجموعه نسخ خطی کتابخانه مجلس

http://dlib.ical.ir/site/search/advanced?docType=LF-MF

http://farabi.majles.ir/parvan/home/

Manuscripts in the Digital Library of the National Library of Iran

کتابخانه و اسناد رقمی (دیجیتال)

http://dl.nlai.ir/UI/Forms/Index.aspx

Includes brief bibliographic details alongside images of fully digitized manuscripts.

Manuscripts in the Digital Library of Tehran University Library

کتابخانه دیجیتال کتابخانه مرکزی ومرکز اسناد دانشگاه تهران

http://utdlib.ut.ac.ir/

Select format (کتاب خطی) or library (نسخ خطی رایگان) to search. Create account and sign in to download.

گنجینه باز نسخ خطی اسلامی - ایرانی

http://totfim.com/

Uzbekistan

Manuscripts from Kokand Khanate (1710-1876)

https://eap.bl.uk/project/EAP630

"This [Endangered Archives Programme] pilot project will investigate collections of manuscripts originally held in the palace library of the Khanate of Kokand (1710-1876). After the establishment of the Turkestan governorship by the Russian Empire in 1876, many manuscripts of the Kokand court library were taken away to Russian collections or to small collections in the Fergana Valley. This project will identify the collections, prepare the groundwork for a future major project and digitise approximately 50 of the most valuable and vulnerable manuscripts. The project is based on previous research fieldwork in Fergana Valley in 2004, 2008, and 2011 and will survey manuscripts of the region, especially from the collection of the Kokand literary museum, other museums of the Fergana Valley, and private collections. The Kokand literary museum has about 14,000 exhibits, of which more than 1,500 are hand-written books dating back to the 15th century in Arabic, Persian and Turkic (chaghatay) languages. In addition, the museum has more than two thousand printed books. The oldest manuscript in the museum is the work copied in 1434 of 'Abdallakh ibn' Abd al- Rahman Husayni – the commentary on khadis «Me‘radj al-a‘mal». The manuscripts cover subjects such as poetry, musicology, astronomy, geography, medicine, logic, Sufism, the Muslim right and the Arab grammar, and also comments on the Koran and khadis."

Kyrgyzstan

Manuscripts of the Academy of Sciences

https://manuscript.lib.kg/%D0%BE%D1%82%D0%BA%D1%80%D1%8B%D1%82%D1%8B%D0%B5-%D1%80%D1%83%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%BF%D0%B8%D1%81%D0%B8/

Digital copies of many materials from the collection including some manuscripts as well lithographs and other printed books

West, Central and East Africa

African Online Digital Library

http://aodl.org/

Numerous digitized materials documenting African experiences including manuscripts of Muslim communities

African Ajami Library

https://open.bu.edu/handle/2144/1896

"Collaborative initiative between Boston University and the West African Research Center (WARC) in part funded by the British Library’s Endangered Archives Programme... AAL is envisioned as a digital 'Library of Alexandria' of Islamized Africa, a continental open access public repository of aggregated Ajami materials"

Chad

Olde Kanembu Islamic Manuscripts

http://digital.soas.ac.uk/okim

"The digital collection of Old Kanembu manuscripts provides an online access to one of the earliest written sub-Saharan languages in manuscript form. Old Kanembu written in Arabic script was a language of Qur’anic interpretation in the ancient Borno Sultanate. It has survived in marginal and interlinear annotations in the early Qur’an manuscripts dating from the 17th to 19th centuries and in various other religious texts dating from the 19th century to 1980’s.

The Old Kanembu corpus originates from Qur’anic manuscripts photographed by David Bivar in 1950s and donated to the SOAS Library in 2003. The initial collection consisted of four manuscripts represented by 230 folios in photographic and microfilm form, all subsequently digitised in 2005. In 2005-2007, in the course of fieldwork conducted by Dmitry Bondarev and Abba Isa Tijani in northern Nigeria, and in 2009-2013 by Dmitry Bondarev in Nigeria, Niger and the Republic of Chad, the corpus of digitised manuscripts was substantially increased to more than 5,000 folios, including five more copies of the Qur’an and numerous other bilingual (Arabic and Old Kanembu) manuscripts. The collection now spans a period of about 400 years, from the oldest manuscripts found by Bivar (17th to early 18th centuries) to the manuscripts of a later period (18th to late 20th centuries), produced in different places in northern Nigeria, southeast Niger and west Chad."

Ethiopia

Muhammed Dawud's Collection of Islamic Manuscripts from Kemisse [c 11th century-21st century]

https://eap.bl.uk/project/EAP401

"[This Endangered Archives Programme] project identified six abandoned mosques in the towns of Cheno, Dera and in South Wallo, and 21 manuscripts were listed. Some manuscripts in a poor condition were relocated to the Gaceni District Culture and Tourism Bureau. Ten manuscripts have been digitised and copies deposited with the Institute of Ethiopian Studies, Addis Ababa University; Ethiopian Islamic Affairs Supreme Council; National Archive & Library Addis Ababa, and the British Library. 15 people attended a week’s training in Manuscript Preservation.

The records copied by this project have been catalogued as: EAP401/1 Muhammed Dawud's Collection of Islamic Manuscripts from Kemisse [c 11th century-21st century]"

Ethiopian manuscripts at the Institute of Ethiopian Studies

https://eap.bl.uk/project/EAP286

"The IES is the major custodian of Ethiopian cultural and historical antiquities in Ethiopia. Manuscripts in the collection have come from government offices, monasteries, churches, mosques, public libraries, and private collections from all over the country and represent the entire scope of Ethiopia's extant manuscript history (ca. 600 years). Located at the University of Addis Ababa, the materials in the IES collection facilitate primary research on Ethiopian subjects such as history, language, anthropology, traditional art, religion, diplomatic relations.

One of the largest parts of the collection is made up of Ge'ez manuscripts representing the history and literature of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. Numbering more than 1,500 items, these manuscripts cover the wide range of genres (bible, liturgy, history, theology, grammar, so-called magic scrolls, etc.) produced by the church.

Another substantial part of the collection is the Arabic manuscripts representing the history and literature of the Muslim community in Ethiopia and the set of Amharic manuscripts representing the last 150 years of Ethiopia's emergence into the international community."

Kenya

Riyadha Mosque, Lamu, Kenya (106 of 130 MSS)

https://eap.bl.uk/project/EAP466

“This [Endangered Archives Programme] project will salvage the manuscript collection held at the Riyadha mosque in Lamu, Kenya. The Riyadha mosque college was founded in the late 19th century and is one of the oldest continuously functioning Islamic teaching institutions in East Africa. From its inception to the present day, the Riyadha has drawn students from all over the region. The teaching tradition of the Riyadha mosque is closely linked with similar institutions in Yemen and with its offshoots elsewhere in East Africa. It thus not only represents a local teaching tradition, but a wider Indian Ocean tradition that over time came to epitomise East African Islam. However, the exact content of this tradition during the past 100 years is less known, precisely because the manuscripts used in teaching have either deteriorated completely or been too delicate to use for research.”

Mali

Project to digitise and preserve the manuscripts of Djenné, Mali

https://eap.bl.uk/project/EAP488

See also projects EAP690 EAP879 and EAP1094

"There are 2286 manuscripts in the Djenné Manuscript Library, containing approximately 150,000 pages. In addition there are the 2,885 manuscripts found during the Pilot Study. Many of these manuscripts will have to be digitised in situ at the home of the manuscripts owners. There are also those in two recent private libraries, that of the Imam Korabora and the Landoure family library. A selection will have to be made because of the very large number of manuscripts available. Those chosen for digitisation would have to fulfil certain criteria of either age or distinction in subject matter, in rarity, or in physical appearance.

Concurrent with the digitisation process, courses and study days on various aspects of manuscript and library science will be held for the benefit of the manuscript owners, to raise their awareness of the value of their manuscripts. In addition the technicians digitising the manuscripts will impart their knowledge to a select group of locals during the project."

Mauritania

Oriental Manuscript Resource (OMAR)

http://omar.ub.uni-freiburg.de/index.php?id=homepage

“OMAR was built at the University of Freiburg (Germany), in cooperation with the Center of Informatics of the Unversity of Tübingen (Germany). The databank contains images of approx. 2.500 Arabic manuscripts (in full text, 134.000 images) from Mauritania together with the corresponding bibliographical metadata.

The scans were taken from microfilms, stored at the University of Freiburg, whose originals are preserved at the IMRS (Institut Mauritanien de Recherche Scientifique) in Nouakchott (Mauritania). The microfilms where made by Rainer Oßwald, Ulrich Rebstock and Tobias Mayer during several research trips in Mauritania between 1979 and 1997.”

Niger

Olde Kanembu Islamic Manuscripts

http://digital.soas.ac.uk/okim

Nigeria

Olde Kanembu Islamic Manuscripts

http://digital.soas.ac.uk/okim

Northern Nigeria: Precolonial documents

https://eap.bl.uk/project/EAP535

"This [Endangered Archives Programme] project targets materials held in the National Archives Kaduna (NAK), which was established as the major repository for Northern Nigeria in 1957. The targeted materials include Arabic and Hausa manuscripts from the nineteenth century, and early colonial reports. The latter are comprised of the Secretariat Northern Provinces, provincial files, records from Divisional and District offices, court records, maps, and photographs, and date from 1897 to 1920. The Arabic and Hausa language materials include local chronicles, private correspondence, legal documents, and religious literature, most of which is uncatalogued and ranges in date from the late 18th century to 1903....These materials are of high importance as they document the social, economic and political history of the Sokoto Caliphate (the largest 19th century Islamic empire in West Africa) as well as the early years of British colonial rule in Northern Nigeria, when many features of Caliphate economy and society were researched by colonial officials. They detail colonial policy formation and demonstrate the extent to which officials understood Islam, slavery and unfree labour and how they were trying to shape colonial Northern Nigeria through reform of Caliphate institutions. Finally, the documents are of value to historians of Africa in general, because such resources deal with labour, culture, intellectual history and inter-group relations in the African pre-colonial era. Such documentation is relatively scarce."

Fulfulde ajami manuscripts of Nigerian Jihad poetry by Usman dan Fodio (1754-1817) and contemporaries

https://eap.bl.uk/project/EAP387

"The aim of this [Endangered Archives Programme] project is the digitisation of 93 manuscripts of Fulfulde jihad poetry (approximately 600 pages) by various authors, which are owned by a private collector in 'Yola (Nigeria). The bulk consists of 43 poems by Usman dan Fodio and 26 poems by his daughter Nana Asma'u...This will serve as a basis for future transliteration and translation and for exploration of the style, language, and sociocultural motivations of Fulbe jihad poetry...Digital copies of the documents will be deposited in the participating institutions: the Arewa Institute in Kaduna, Nigeria; the British Library in London and Tilburg University in the Netherlands. Arewa House is an archival institute in Kaduna, Nigeria and, as a centre for historical documentation and research and part of the Ahmadu Bello University, is particularly suited for the preservation of these documents."

Senegal

Wolof Ajami Manuscripts of Senegal (Thies, Touba, Diourbel, Louga and Saint-Louis)

https://eap.bl.uk/project/EAP334

"This [Endangered Archives Project] project will create a digital repository of Ajami manuscripts written by the members of the Muridiyya Sufi order founded in Senegal in 1883 by Ahmadu Bamba (ca 1853-1927). The reasons for the flourishing of Ajami among Murids can be linked to the desire for Wolof cultural autonomy, and the pedagogy and teachings of Ahmadu Bamba, who stressed the importance of physical work, Sufi education, and accommodative relations with the French colonial power...This project will focus on the manuscripts written by Wolof Ajami pioneers such as Khali Madiakhate Kala (1835-1902), Mor Kayre (1869-1951), Samba Diarra Mbaye (1870-1917), Mbaye Diakhate (1875-1954), and Moussa Ka (1883-1967). It is expected to make and preserve digital copies of at least 5,000 pages of endangered Ajami manuscripts following EAP guidelines...The project team successfully digitised 5,494 pages, copying 29 manuscripts from 15 collections. The manuscripts primarily consist of Wolofal (Wolof Ajami) materials written by the members of the Muridiyya Sufi order founded in Senegal in 1883. The archival materials remain in the homes of the owners. Three copies were made and have been deposited at WARC (West African Research Center), the British Library and Boston University’s digital repository."

Europe

Bulgaria

St. Cyril and Methodius National Library

http://82.147.128.134/izr/public/

https://digilib.nationallibrary.bg/izr/public/

https://digilib.nationallibrary.bg/orient/public/

https://digilib.nationallibrary.bg/def/public/

https://digilib.nationallibrary.bg/sij/public/

Digital Library Includes Arabic manuscripts, Turkish manuscripts, Persian manuscripts, Oriental documents, defters, sicils, Oriental printed books, and more. Digitization of the manuscripts is an ongoing project. Available for browse and search with Bulgarian database / catalogue interface. To browse, select interface language and use an open search (leave search fields empty before clicking search button)

Denmark

The Royal Library, National Library of Denmark and Copenhagen University Library

http://www.kb.dk/en/nb/samling/os/osdigit.html

“Digital editions from the Oriental Collection - chose for their beauty, rarity, calligraphy, bindings etc. - are available on different platforms. They are available through these links (in all cases, use the left hand menues for navigation)”

France

Gallica (Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris)

Persian manuscripts in Gallica (BnF, Paris) http://gallica.bnf.fr/Search?ArianeWireIndex=index&lang=EN&q=persan&p=1&f_typedoc=manuscrit

Arabic manuscripts in Gallica (BnF, Paris) http://gallica.bnf.fr/Search?ArianeWireIndex=index&p=1&lang=EN&f_typedoc=manuscrits&q=arabe

Turkish manuscripts in Gallica (BnF, Paris) http://gallica.bnf.fr/Search?ArianeWireIndex=index&p=1&lang=EN&f_typedoc=manuscrits&q=turc

Mandragore, base des manuscrits enluminés de la BnF (Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris)

http://mandragore.bnf.fr/html/accueil.html

Electronic catalogue of illuminated / illustrated manuscripts held at the BnF with descriptions and color images available for viewing and download.

BULAC (Bibliothèque universitaire des Langues et Civilisations)

https://bina.bulac.fr/collections/browse

Digitized arabic, persian, turkish and other manuscripts gathered in collection lists

see also the online catalogue here http://www.calames.abes.fr/pub/

Fonds Arsène Roux : Manuscrits (MMSH-IREMAM, Médiathèque de la MMSH, Aix-en-Provence)

https://cinumed.mmsh.univ-aix.fr/fonds-manuscrits/exhibitions/45-fonds-arsene-roux-manuscrits

"Un ensemble unique par son nombre de manuscrits “Tachelhit”. Arsène Roux a consacré une grande partie de sa carrière de linguiste berbérisant et arabisant à rassembler des textes berbères écrits en caractères arabes. Les manuscrits qu'il qualifie d'“arabo-berbère” proviennent principalement des régions du Souss et du Moyen-Atlas marocains."

online catalogue https://zegami.com/collections/public-62482d18f1047bd3671083e4

digitized catalogues https://cinumed.mmsh.univ-aix.fr/en/collection/item/103643-catalogue-des-manuscrits-arabes-et-berbres-du-fonds-roux

https://cinumed.mmsh.univ-aix.fr/en/collection/item/103651-catalogue-des-archives-berbres-du-fonds-arsne-roux-

http://defter.fr/index.php/fonds-arsene-roux

Abdelmajid Arrif & Hassan Moukhlisse, Des manuscrits entre traces et effacements (online exhibit)

https://www.mmsh.fr/expos/Roux-Manuscrits/

Estonia

Oriental Manuscripts (University of Tartu)

http://dspace.ut.ee/handle/10062/50607

Selection from the Persian manuscripts held in the Department of Rare Books and Manuscripts of the Tartu University Library

Germany

Qalamos --- connecting manuscript traditions

https://www.qalamos.net/

"Portal für Handschriften aus asiatischen und afrikanischen Schrifttraditionen. Das Portal wird im Rahmen des DFG-Projekts „Orient-Digital“ entwickelt. Projektpartner sind die Bayerische Staatsbibliothek München, die Forschungsbibliothek Gotha, die Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin und das Universitätsrechenzentrum Leipzig."

Portal for manuscripts from Asian and African writing traditions preserved in partnering German libraries. Will include descriptive data and links to digitized manuscripts (where available)

Orientalische Handschriften, Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin

Nearly 4200 of the manuscripts are now available digitally. Click the "Digitalisat" / "digital" box when searching the database at

http://orient-digital.staatsbibliothek-berlin.de/content/index.xml

e.g.

http://orient-digital.staatsbibliothek-berlin.de/servlets/MCRSearchServlet?mode=results&id=cylzljsxkg4xiylmiis2&numPerPage=25&mask=search_form_islamhs_simple.xed&query=%28objectType%20=%20%22islamhs%22%29%20AND%20%28ihs61%20=%20%22true%22%29&maxResults=0&ihsinvent.sortField.1=ascending

Bayerische Staatsbibliothek (BSB i.e. Bavarian State Library), Munich

http://bsb-mdz12-spiegel.bsb.lrz.de/index.html?c=sammlungen&l=en

Growing collection of digitized manuscripts from among the extensive holdings at the BSB, including Arabic, Persian, Turkish, etc.

“The Bayerische Staatsbibliothek preserves an extensive collection of manuscripts, which will be made available step by step to the interested public on the Internet. The offer of works available in digitised form is expanded continuously. The digital copies produced from the originals are full colour copies, those produced from microfilms are available in a bitonal or grey-scale quality.”

“Handschriften (arabische - Cod.arab.)” http://daten.digitale-sammlungen.de/~db/ausgaben/gesamt_ausgabe.html?projekt=1237542282&recherche=ja&ordnung=sig

“Manuscripts (other Oriental - Cod.armen., Cod.Bal., Cod.curd., Cod.mand., Cod.Paschto, Cod.pers., Cod.syr., Cod.turc., Cod.Zend)” http://daten.digitale-sammlungen.de/~db/ausgaben/gesamt_ausgabe.html?projekt=1237542643&recherche=ja&ordnung=sig

“Handschriften (orientalische und ostasiatische Sprachen)” http://daten.digitale-sammlungen.de/~db/ausgaben/gesamt_ausgabe.html?projekt=1157984516&ordnung=sig&recherche=ja

Refaiya Library, Leipzig University (Universität Leipzig)

http://www.refaiya.uni-leipzig.de/content/below/index.xml;jsessionid=40CBF730DCA8A9717F024FD5A9E908B3?lang=en

“The project aims at the historical and codicological research on, database development and digital presentation of the private Arabic-Islamic library of the Damascene Rifā'ī family. This library, called "Refaiya" (Rifā'īya) - comprising 488 carefully preserved volumes and handed down over several centuries until the 19th century - is the precious core of the approximately 3,200 Oriental manuscripts kept at Leipzig University Library. It is probably a unique example of a cohesive, traditional Arabic-Islamic family library. The preservation of its historical formation is due to the direct acquisition by the Prussian Consul and Arabist Johann Gottfried Wetzstein from its last owner, 'Umar Efendi al-Rifā'ī al-Ḥamawī, in 1853....

The trilingual database (English, German and Arabic) and the digitization will facilitate the presentation of a cohesive pre-modern Damascene family library on the Internet and, thereby, make the manuscripts accessible internationally - including the Islamic world - for further research. The digital recording of the Refaiya manuscripts is based on the DFG-funded database, "Pilot Project for a database-supported indexing and digital presentation of the recently acquired Arab, Turkish and Persian manuscripts at the University of Leipzig" ( www.islamic-manuscripts.net ).”

Oriental Manuscripts, Saxon State and University Library (SLUB), Dresden

http://www.slub-dresden.de/en/collections/manuscripts/oriental-manuscripts/

Growing selection of Oriental manuscripts (mainly Turkish) digitized and available for viewing.

http://digital.slub-dresden.de/kollektionen/101/

Orientalischen Handschriften der Forschungsbibliothek Gotha der Universität Erfurt

http://www.manuscripts-gotha.uni-jena.de/content/index.xml

Growing selection (currently 650 indexed, 500 digitized) from the 3,500 manuscripts held at the Gotha research library.

"The research library Gotha harbors one of the largest Oriental manuscript collections in Germany comprising about 3,500 codices, primarily in Arabic, Turkish and Persian. The collection covers more than 800 years of Islamicate scholarship and features manuscripts from all disciplines, amongst them history, theology, jurisprudence, medicine, science, grammar, lexicography and literature."

Orientalische Handschriften, Universitätsbibliothek Heidelberg

http://www.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/helios/digi/codheidor.html

An Image Database of Persian Historical Documents from Iran and Central Asia up to the 20th Century, Philipps-Universität Marburg

http://www.asnad.org/en/

“The Project aims at facilitating access to the growing number of available Persian historical deeds and documents, both published and unpublished. It shall allow work on archival material with the help of incorporated facsimiles without recourse to the original - often remote - place of publication or storage.

The Database includes "public" and "private" documents: royal decrees and orders, official correspondence, and shari'a court documents, such as contracts of sale and lease, vaqf deeds, marriage contracts, and court orders. It also serves as a bibliographic reference tool, being a continually updated repertoire of published historical documents.”

Digital Bab al-Yemen

http://www.google.com/culturalinstitute/collection/the-digital-bab-al-yemen

http://www.digitalbabalyemen.org/

Orientalische Handschriften, Universitätsbibliothek Tübingen

http://idb.ub.uni-tuebingen.de/digitue/tue/handschriften/Ma_Orientalische_Handschriften

http://idb.ub.uni-tuebingen.de/digitue/tue/handschriften/Ma_Orientalische_Handschriften/holdings

Links to a selection of digitized manuscripts from the Oriental Manuscript holdings of the Tübingen University Library, as well as descriptive details on the complete holdings.

"Einen Schwerpunkt des Handschriftenbestandes der Universitätsbibliothek Tübingen bilden die orientalischen Handschriften, die im 19. und 20. Jahrhundert als Sammlungen in die Bibliothek gelangten. Die zahlenmäßig stärkste Gruppe stellen die indischen Handschriften mit inzwischen über 850 Stücken dar, gefolgt von den etwa 400 arabischen und 300 türkischen Handschriften. Unter den im Jahre 1903 erworbenen 107 armenischen Handschriften sind hervorragende Beispiele zur armenischen Buchmalerei des 12. bis 19. Jahrhunderts enthalten. Die orientalischen Handschriften sind nach Sprachgruppen geordnet, z.B. Ma I: Indische Handschriften, Ma IV: Hebräische Handschriften, Ma VI: Arabische Handschriften, Ma XIII: Armenische Handschriften oder Ma X: Tibetische Handschriften. Eine genauere Aufschlüsselung der Signaturen finden Sie hier. Für weitere Informationen stehen Ihnen unser handschriftliches Inventar und ältere gedruckte Kataloge zur Verfügung."

Islamic Scientific Manuscripts Initiative (ISMI) (Max Plank Institute for the History of Science + McGill University Institute of Islamic Studies)

https://ismi.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/

Richly structured database includes scanned codices

Hungary

Vámbéry Collection of the Library of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (Budapest)

http://vambery.mtak.hu/en/14.htm

Digital mages of the 60 MSS (68 Turkish, 10 Persian, 2 Arabic) donated by the noted scholar Ármin Vámbéry (1832-1913)

Török O.38, O.171, O.176, O.196, O.329, O.370–388, Török Qu.39, Qu.60, Qu.63–78, Török F.23, F.57, F.66–67, F.70–71;
Perzsa O.43–47, O.49–50, O.52–53, Perzsa F.14;
Arab O.4, Arab F.4.

Ireland

Chester Beatty Digital Collections (Dublin)

https://viewer.cbl.ie/viewer/

Links to select images from a range of holdings of interest at the Chester Beatty Library, including "Arabic collection," "Indian collection," "Islamic collection," "Persian collection," Turkish collection"

Chester Beatty "Explore the Collections"

https://chesterbeatty.ie/explore/places/

Details on Chester Beatty holdings by collection along with links to digital images

Italy

Arabic Manuscripts from the Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale di Firenze (Florence)

http://www.bncf.net/notizia.php?id=1291

http://manoscritti.bncf.firenze.sbn.it/?p=2089

Digital images of the manuscripts available for browse by shelfmark ; search by descriptive metadata coming soon.

Published catalogues for the collection:

L. Buonazia, Catalogo dei codici arabi della Biblioteca Nazionale di Firenze, Firenze 1885 (copia digitale)
O. Pinto, Manoscritti arabi delle biblioteche governative di Firenze non ancora catalogati, in “La Bibliofilia”, 37 (1935), pp. 234-246, in part. 237-238
S. Fani, Censimento conservativo dei manoscritti arabi presso la Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale di Firenze, Tesi per il conseguimento del Master di I livello in Conservazione e restauro delle raccolte librarie e documentarie, Spoleto-Perugia, a.a. 2008/9

The Netherlands

Digital Collections (Leiden University Library)

https://digitalcollections.universiteitleiden.nl/view/collection/ublmanuscripts

Includes manuscripts in Arabic, Javanese, Malay, Turkish and other languages as well as documents from the papers of C. Snouck Hurgronje (1857-1936), a scholar and key figure in Dutch colonial politics

https://digitalcollections.universiteitleiden.nl/

"Several of the most important manuscript collections in the Leiden University Libraries (UBL) Special Collections, comprising 443 extremely rare and often unique volumes, have been made available in Open Access via Digital Collections. The available manuscript collections include the private collections of some of the earliest Leiden scholars of Middle Eastern languages, such as Josephus Scaliger, Franciscus Raphelengius and Jacobus Golius, as well as the Ottoman Turkish manuscripts acquired by Levinus Warner in Istanbul between 1645 and 1665" [as of July 2023]

Yemeni Arabic Manuscripts (Leiden University Library)

https://digitalcollections.universiteitleiden.nl/view/collection/yemeni

Part of The Zaydi Manuscript Tradition project cf also the Yemeni Manuscript Digitization Initiative

Russia

Early Qur’ans from the J. J. Marcel Collection, National Library of Russia

http://www.nlr.ru/eng/exib/Koran/

“The printed Report of the Imperial Public Library for the year 1864 (St.Petersburg, 1865. Pp. 22-24) informs its readers that the Library has acquired ‘the collection of ancient Kufic Qur'ans on parchment bought from Mme Desnoyer, heiress of Arabist Marcel who was among the members of the learned French expedition to Egypt equipped by Bonapart.’”

Select images and exhibition catalogue.

Manuscripta Islamica Rossica

http ://manuscriptaislamica.ru/en

Digitized Arabic, Persian and Turkish manuscripts from Russian collections. Descriptions in Russian

Serbia

Selection of Arabic, Persian and Turkish manuscripts in PHAIDRA (Digital Repository of the University of Belgrade), Belgrade

https://phaidrabg.bg.ac.rs/browse

Orijentalni rukopisi, DIGITALNI REPOZITORIJUM, Univerzitetska biblioteka "Svetozar Marković", Belgrade

http://www.unilib.bg.ac.rs/repozitorijum/fond/orijentalni/index.lat.php

Digitized Oriental manuscripts available for view and download as pdf files.

Spain

Manuscript@CSIC portal

http://manuscripta.bibliotecas.csic.es/

“The Manuscript@CSIC portal presents the collections of manuscripts in Hebrew, Arabic, Aljamiado, Persian and Turkish preserved and stored in the network of CSIC libraries, and includes information on their cataloging and digitalization. The Portal is the result of a joint project carried out by the Institute of Mediterranean and Near Eastern Languages and Cultures (ILC),the School of Arabic Studies in Granada (EEA) and the Unit of Information Resources for Research. The project intends to make the collections of manuscripts stored in their libraries accessible to the public ( Tomás Navarro Tomás Library and School of Arabic Studies Library).”

Colección de manuscritos árabes en la Biblioteca Municipal de Córdoba

http://biblioteca.ayuncordoba.es/index.php/biblio-digital/201-manuscritos-arabes/1493-manuscritos-arabes.html

Digitized photographic reproductions (mainly black and white) of Arabic manuscripts (those known as "Códices de Tetuán") held at the Municipal Library of Cordoba, available for online viewing and pdf download. Digitized catalogues and publications pertaining to the manuscripts also available:

BUSTANI, A. Colección de códices árabes existentes en el Archivo Municipal de Córdoba, Al-Mulk, nº 1, 1959.
GARIJO GALÁN, I. y R. PINILLA MELGUIZO, “Catálogo de Manuscritos Árabes conservados en la Biblioteca Municipal de Córdoba”, Qurtuba, nº 1, 1996.
ARJONA CASTRO, A. Manuscritos árabes en Córdoba, en Los manuscritos árabes en España y Marruecos, Granada, Consejería de Cultura de la Junta de Andalucía, 2006.

Sweden

Turkish, Turkic (esp. Uyghur), Persian, and Arabic manuscripts from Uppsala University Library (Uppsala universitetsbibliotek)

http://www.alvin-portal.org/

Click on "Books & Manuscript" under Resource Type, then select language from the "Refine search result" options

Annotated Turki Manuscripts from the Jarring Collection Online

https://uyghur.ittc.ku.edu/manuscripts/index.xhtml

Links to digital facsimiles, transcripts, translations, etc of manuscripts in the Jarring Collection provided by the ATMO project

Switzerland

e-manuscripta (Universitätsbibliothek Basel)

http://www.e-manuscripta.ch/

Search on "Orientalische Handschriften" to retrieve a small selection of manuscripts from Handschriften-Signaturen / Abteilung M: Orientalische Handschriften

Turkey

Yazma Eserler Portal (Türkiye Yazma Eserler Kurumu Başkanlığı)

https://portal.yek.gov.tr/

New Manuscripts Portal of the Turkish Manuscripts Institution covering hundreds of collections. Registration required.

Kitap Sanatları ve Hat Koleksiyonu, Sakıp Sabancı Müzesi, Sabancı Üniversitesi, İstanbul

https://digitalssm.org/digital/collection/Kitapvehat/

Manuscripts (including several types of calligraphic specimens) and writing implements of the Book Arts and Calligraphy Collection at the Sakıp Sabancı Museum now digitized and available for viewing online. Possible to browse by format, script, calligrapher, title, etc. and to keyword search descriptions (in Turkish).

"Sabancı Üniversitesi Sakıp Sabancı Müzesi Kitap Sanatları ve Hat Koleksiyonu'nda, 14. yüzyıl sonlarından 20. yüzyıla kadarki bir zaman diliminde ünlü hattatların elinden çıkma Kuran-ı Kerim nüshaları ve dua kitapları, kıt’alar, murakkalar, levha ve hilyeler, tuğralı ferman ve beratlar, hattatların yazı araçları yer alıyor."

Koç University Manuscript Collection, Istanbul

https://librarydigitalcollections.ku.edu.tr/en/collection/koc-university-manuscripts-collection/

https://libdigitalcollections.ku.edu.tr/digital/collection/MC/search/

Digitized manuscripts (mainly in Ottoman Turkish) from the rare book / special collections of Koç University. May be browsed or searched and viewed online.

Digitized manuscripts from the rare books collection of Marmara University Library (Marmara Üniversitesi Nadir Eserler Koleksiyonu), Istanbul

http://katalog.marmara.edu.tr/yordambt/yordam.php

Select "El yazısı" from the "Şekil" dropdown menu to browse a listing of manuscript descriptions. Create account and log in to download and view digitized manuscripts.

Digitized manuscripts from İstanbul Araştırmaları Enstitüsü Kütüphanesi

https://katalog.iae.org.tr/yordambt/yordam.php?aAltTur=293&aAltTur=293

Browse listing of manuscripts. Click on catalogue entries for more detail and links to digital copies of manuscripts in PDF

Digitized manuscripts from Istanbul University Library (İstanbul Üniversitesi Kütüphane ve Dokümantasyon Daire Başkanlığı)

http://katalog.istanbul.edu.tr/client/tr_TR/default_tr/search/results?qf=ITYPE%09Materyal+T%C3%BCr%C3%BC%091:YAZMA%09Yazma+Eser&lm=IUNEK

Browse listing. Click on entries for details and links to digital copies in PDF.

United Kingdom (UK)

Islamic Manuscripts, Cambridge Digital Library, University of Cambridge

http://cudl.lib.cam.ac.uk/collections/islamic/

Selection of digitized manuscripts from the Cambridge University Library’s holdings of Islamic manuscripts.

“In this selection, we present several examples of Qur'anic manuscripts, including a complete and beautifully illustrated Qur'an and a number of very early fragments dating back to the first centuries of the Islamic calendar. From the rich literature encompassing the Islamic tradition we have chosen the only extant copy of Kitāb al-tawḥīd, the famous theological work by by al-Maturidi, alongside works on science and some richly illustrated examples of Persian Literature.”

Selection of digitized manuscripts from the Bodleian Library, Oxford

On LUNA (mainly via "Masterpieces of the non-Western Book" collection)

http://bodley30.bodley.ox.ac.uk:8180/luna/servlet/view/all/what/Arabic?sort=Shelfmark,sort_order

Or browse all and refine by language (Arabic, Persian, etc) or shelfmark http ://bodley30.bodley.ox.ac.uk:8180/luna/servlet/view/all?showAll=what

Includes MS. Marsh 144 a copy of ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Ṣūfī‘s Kitāb Ṣuwar al-kawākib al-thābitah

On Digital Bodleian (mainly via "Oriental" collection)

https://digital.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/

Or browse by language or shelfmark. May also follow links to digitised manuscripts provided in the Fihrist Union Catalogue

“Paintings from Mughal India” Bodleian Library, Oxford

~~http://digital.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/oriental_exhibition~~

Many of the paintings are available here http://bodley30.bodley.ox.ac.uk:8180/luna/servlet/view/all/what/Indian?sort=Shelfmark,sort_order

“Oriental Manuscripts” University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Scotland

http://images.is.ed.ac.uk/luna/servlet/UoEsha~4~4

Highlights of the Oriental Manuscript Collection at Edinburgh University Library (http://archiveshub.ac.uk/data/gb237-coll-102).

“The Library has over 650 manuscripts in oriental languages. A large part of the Oriental Manuscript Collection consists of Arabic and Persian manuscripts, of which there are 429 in the Special Collections in the Main Library, and 102 in the New College Library.

Arabic manuscripts include commentaries on the Koran; traditions of the Prophet and Imam; prayers; law, general history and biography; medicine, mathematics, philosophy and ethics; and, grammar, rhetoric, poetry, prose, tales, dictionary, and controversy.

Persian manuscripts include theology, history, biography, and travel; mathematics and astronomy; ethics, poetry, music, composition and proverbs, tales and romances; grammar and dictionary; and, agriculture and war.

The Collection includes two of the significant treasures of the Library, namely the World history of the Mongol vizier Rashid Al-Din, which illustrates parts of the life of the Prophet Muhammad, and the chronology of ancient nations of Al-Biruni, both of which were written in Arabic in Tabriz in Persian circa 1307 A.D.

A detailed description of the Arabic and Persian manuscripts is found in Hukk, Mohammed Ashraful, et al., A descriptive catalogue of the Arabic and Persian manuscripts in Edinburgh University Library (Hertford: Printed for the University of Edinburgh by S. Austin & sons, Ltd, 1925. viii, 454p ; 23 cm, while R. R. Serjeant’s A handlist of the Arabic, Persian and Hindustani MSS. Of New College, Edinburgh (London: Luzac & Co., 1942) contains a detailed list of the manuscript holdings in the New College Library.”

Wellcome Arabic Manuscripts Online, Wellcome Library, London

http://wamcp.bibalex.org/en/home

“The Arabic manuscripts collection of the Wellcome Library (London) comprises around 1000 manuscript books and fragments relating to the history of medicine. For the first time this website enables a substantial proportion of this collection to be consulted online via high-quality digital images of entire manuscripts and associated rich metadata.

This has been made possible by a pioneering partnership between the Bibliotheca Alexandrina, the Wellcome Library, and King's College London, with funding from the JISC Islamic studies programme.

These manuscripts are part of the Wellcome Library's Asian Collection, which comprises some 12,000 manuscripts and 4,000 printed books in 43 different languages. The Islamic holdings include Arabic and Persian manuscripts and printed books, and a small collection of Ottoman manuscripts and Turkish books. The core of these collections relates to the great heritage of classical medicine, preserved, enlarged and commentated on throughout the Islamic world, stretching from Southern Spain to South and South-east Asia.”

Mingana Collection, University of Birmingham

http://epapers.bham.ac.uk/view/series/Mingana_Collection.html
http://vmr.bham.ac.uk/Collections/Mingana/

http://vmr.bham.ac.uk/Collections/Mingana/part/Islamic_Arabic/

http://vmr.bham.ac.uk/Collections/Mingana/part/Persian/

Fully digitized selection of manuscripts with only brief descriptions.

John Rylands University Library, Manchester

http://enriqueta.man.ac.uk:8180/luna/servlet/view/search?q=Link_to_Catalogue=%22Arabic%20Manuscripts%22

Digitized Arabic manuscripts in the John Rylands University Library Image Collections, including the monumental muṣḥaf of Qānṣūh al-Ghūrī (Arabic MS 42)

Digital Access to Persian Manuscripts, British Library

http://britishlibrary.typepad.co.uk/asian-and-african/persian.html

"The British Library is currently engaged in a program to enable digital access to the Persian collections and has now reached the end of the second year of a planned three-year partnership project with the Iran Heritage Foundation and other supporters. The project involves creating catalogue records for manuscripts which are uncatalogued, standardizing the existing print records and creating digital files to make them available online. At the same time we aim to digitise 50 of the most significant manuscripts within the three year period. By the end of the initial three-year partnership, records of nearly all acquisitions made after 1903 will be available online. Currently, details of over 2,500 works are searchable on Fihrist, a union catalogue of some of the major Arabic script manuscript collections in the UK, and will also be available within the Library's own manuscripts' catalogue.

At the present time we have digitised 27 manuscripts which are available in entirety at British Library's Digitised Manuscripts."

Manuscripts from the British Library appearing in the Qatar Digital Library

http://www.qdl.qa/en/search/site/?f[0]=document_source%3Aarchive_source&f[1]=source_content_type%3AManuscript%20item

Digitised Arabic texts from the University of Leeds

http://www.comp.leeds.ac.uk/arabictexts/

"We have digitised as scans and backlights a sample of the rich collection of Arabic texts held by the Library of the University of Leeds, and its Special Collections. We have scanned comprehensively at high resolution to reveal of the text, paper texture and manufacture, and watermarks. We believe this product will be of interest to papyrologists, arabists, digital archivists and others. The Leeds project is interested in developing techniques to examine the watermark in such documents, together with other concealed properties of the paper.

Texts currently available are

Aga Khan Library Digital Collections

https://www.agakhanlibrary.digital/collections

Digitized rare books and manuscripts from the Aga Khan Library (London)

University of Edinburgh Library, Heritage Collections

Manuscripts of the Islamicate World and South Asia

https://archives.collections.ed.ac.uk/repositories/2/resources/86063

Descriptions and digital copies of manuscripts where available. "The collection consists of over 700 manuscripts pertaining to the Islamicate world and South Asia, dating from the 10th to 19th centuries C.E. (the majority being post-1500). Chiefly bound paper codices.... [texts] Mainly in Persian and Arabic, but also Turkish, Sanskrit, Bengali, Hindustani, Malay, Panjabi, Prakrit, Syriac and Urdu"

Vatican

Vatican Library (Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana)

http://www.mss.vatlib.it/guii/scan/link.jsp

A number of Turkish, Persian, Arabic, and other manuscripts available in full. Listed by shelfmark.

North America

Canada

Indo-Persian Manuscripts at McGill University Library (Montreal, Quebec)

http://www.perso-indica.net/events-news/24

"Following the request of Perso-Indica at the Library of McGill University in Montreal, the Library has decided to digitize a selection of rare Persian manuscripts dealing with Indic cultures. These manuscripts were chiefly produced in South Asia during the 18th and the 19th centuries. They are kept in the Blacker-Wood Collectionand the Osler Library of McGill University in Montreal.They have been digitized thanks to the contribution of the Institute of Islamic Studies and the Islamic Studies Library of McGill University."

McGill Digital Collections (Online Exhibitions from the Islamic Studies Library, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec)

Islamic Calligraphy from the Islamic Rare Books Collection (curated by Anaïs Salamon and Sean Swanick)

http://digital.library.mcgill.ca/islamic_calligraphy/index.php

Shanameh by Ferdowsi (curated by Sean Swanick, assisted by Anaïs Salamon)

http://digital.library.mcgill.ca/shahnameh/index.php

Strokes and Hairlines: Elegant Writing and its Place in Muslim Book Culture. An Exhibition in Celebration of the 60th Anniversary of The Institute of Islamic Studies (curated by Adam Gacek)

http://digital.library.mcgill.ca/strokes_hairlines/index.php

United States of America (USA)

Minassian Collection of Qur’anic Manuscripts (Brown University Library, Brown University, Providence, RI)

http://library.brown.edu/quran/

"This database catalogues the holdings of over 200 Qur’anic manuscript folios dating from the 9th to the 16th centuries housed within the special collections of the Brown University libraries. These items were acquired as part of a treasury of rich artistic and textual items donated in 1998 to Brown by Adrienne Minassian, the daughter of Kirkor Minassian (1874–1944), who was an active art collector and dealer based in New York and Paris in the early 20th century. In addition to the forty distinct manuscripts of the Qur’an represented here, the collection includes numerous Persian manuscripts, calligraphic panels, Persian and Central Asian ceramics and other art objects, as well as an impressive selection of miniature paintings from the Persian, Mughul and Indian traditions."

“Islamic Manuscripts (Michigan)” (Ann Arbor, MI)

http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/mb?a=listis;c=1961411403

نسخ رقمية كاملة من اغلب المخطوطات الاسلامية المحفوظة في مكتبة جامعة ميشيغان.

Digitized manuscripts representing most but not all of the codices in the Islamic Manuscripts Collection at the University of Michigan.

Ancient Manuscripts from the Desert Libraries of Timbuktu (Library of Congress, Washington DC)

http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/mali/

“Timbuktu, Mali, is the legendary city founded as a commercial center in West Africa nine hundred years ago. Dating from the 16th to the 18th centuries, the ancient manuscripts presented in this exhibition cover every aspect of human endeavor and are indicative of the high level of civilization attained by West Africans during the Middle Ages.”

Princeton Digital Library of Islamic Manuscripts (Princeton University Library, Princeton, NJ)

https://dpul.princeton.edu/islamicmss

المكتبة البرينستونية الالكترونية للمخطوطات الاسلامية

"The Princeton Digital Library of Islamic Manuscripts offers a selection of some 9,500 Arabic, Persian, and Ottoman Turkish volumes in the Manuscripts Division, located in the Department of Rare Books and Special Collections, at the Firestone Memorial Library. The manuscripts date from the early centuries of Islam through the 19th century."

http://pudl.princeton.edu/collections/pudl0032

“As a result of generous support from the David A. Gardner '69 Magic Project, the Princeton University Library is recataloging and initially digitizing 200 of its approximately 9,500 volumes of Islamic manuscripts from Robert Garrett and other sources. These 200 will be the core of the Princeton Digital Library of Islamic Manuscripts. These manuscripts constitute the premier collection of Islamic manuscripts in the Western Hemisphere and number among the finest in the world.”

Yemeni Manuscript Digitization Initiative (Princeton University Library, Princeton, NJ, Staatsbibliothek, Berlin et al )

http://pudl.princeton.edu/collections/pudl0079

“The private manuscript libraries of Yemen, estimated at 50,000 codices, constitutes the largest and most important set of unexamined Arabic manuscripts in the world today. The Yemeni Manuscript Digitization Initiative presents, for the first time, access to manuscripts from three private libraries in Sanaa, Yemen, and virtually conjoins them to additional Yemeni manuscripts held by the Princeton University Library and Staatsbibliothek, Berlin. The texts in this archive were composed, copied, studied, and preserved by Zaydi scholars from the tenth century to the present. Zaydism is a leading school of Islam in Northern Yemen known for forms of rationalist theology that were abandoned in other regions. The Yemeni Manuscript Digitization Initiative is made possible by a Enriching Digital Collections Grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG). The grant is administered by Princeton University Library and the Free University, Berlin in conjunction with the Imam Zayd ibn Ali Cultural Foundation (IZbACF) in Sanaa, Yemen. Information on this grant and related projects to preserve and disseminate the manuscripts of Yemen can be found at ymdi.uoregon.edu.”

See also the Zaydi Manuscript Tradition Project and Yemeni Arabic Manuscripts (Leiden University Library)

Arabic language manuscripts at Penn Libraries, University of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, PA)

http://dla.library.upenn.edu/dla/medren/search.html?fq=language_facet:%22Arabic%22

http://dla.library.upenn.edu/dla/medren/search.html?fq=language_facet%3A%22Persian%22

Islamic Manuscripts, The Walters Art Museum (Washington, DC)

http://art.thewalters.org/browse/category/islamic-manuscripts/

“The Walters’ collection of Islamic Manuscripts showcases masterpieces of illuminated and illustrated manuscripts. The sacred, devotional and non-religious manuscripts presented here were created across the breadth of the Islamic world and date from the 9th through the 19th century. In the Islamic book, the primary vehicle for literary and artistic expression, the powers of poetry, prayer and visual form collide. They bear witness to remarkable achievements in literature and the book arts. Examples include a 15th-century Koran from northern India, executed at the height of the Timurid empire; a luxurious 16th-century copy of the Khamsa by Amir Khusraw, illustrated by a number of famous artists for the emperor Akbar; and a Turkish calligraphy album by Sheik Handullah al Amasi, one of the greatest calligraphers. All images of Islamic manuscripts were created and are provided through a Preservation and Access grant awarded to The Walters Art Museum by the National Endowment for the Humanities, 2008-2010.”

http://www.thedigitalwalters.org/01_ACCESS_WALTERS_MANUSCRIPTS.html

https://manuscripts.thewalters.org/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/medmss/collections/72157625873839711/

Harvard Islamic Heritage Project (Houghton Library and Harvard Art Museum/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA)

“The IHP collection now includes over 280 manuscripts, selected from Houghton Library and the Harvard Art Museum/Arthur M. Sackler Museum.

Dating from the 10th to the 20th centuries CE, these Islamic manuscripts constitute a record of the diverse artistic traditions, literary cultures, learning traditions, and religious interpretations of the pre-modern Islamic world.”

http://ocp.hul.harvard.edu/ihp/manuscripts.html

Manuscripts of the Lawrence J. Schoenberg Collection (University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA)

Roughly 54 volumes carrying Arabic texts and 15 volumes carrying Persian texts, all available through "Penn in Hand"

http://dla.library.upenn.edu/dla/medren/index.html

http://dla.library.upenn.edu/dla/medren/search.html?fq=language_facet%3A%22Arabic%22

http://dla.library.upenn.edu/dla/medren/search.html?fq=language_facet%3A%22Persian%22

Spencer Collection in the NYPL Digital Gallery (New York Public Library, New York, NY)

http://digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/dgdivisionbrowseresult.cfm?div_id=hsp

Also available via new NYPL Digital Collections site (stil in beta)

http://digitalcollections.nypl.org/search/index?filters%5BphysicalLocation_mtxt_s%5D%5B%5D=Spencer%20Collection

Manuscripts from Yale University Library (and SOAS, University of London) in AMEEL

http://sesame.library.yale.edu:8080/fedoragsearch/ameeltreeresult

Click on "Manuscripts" and holding institution to view list of available manuscripts for viewing.

Manuscripts from the Beincke Rare Book & Manuscript Library (Yale University Library)

https://brbl-dl.library.yale.edu/vufind/Search/Advanced

Select language (Arabic, Persian, Turkish, Turkish Ottoman etc) and click "Find" eg for Arabic

Arabic Manuscripts from Duke University Libraries (Durham, NC)

https://repository.duke.edu/dc/earlymss

More complete descriptive metadata forthcoming.

Persian Language Manuscripts (Library of Congress)

https://www.loc.gov/collections/persian-language-rare-materials/about-this-collection/

A growing number of digitized manuscripts appearing in the collection Persian Language Rare Materials, along with lithographs and other early imprints.

Manuscripts of the Muslim World (Columbia University, Free Library of Philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania, et al)

http://openn.library.upenn.edu/html/muslimworld_contents.html

"Manuscripts of the Muslim World will include digital editions of more than 500 manuscripts and 827 paintings from the Islamicate world broadly construed. Together these holdings represent in great breadth the flourishing intellectual and cultural heritage of Muslim lands from 1000 to 1900, coving mathematics, astrology, history, law, literature, as well as the Qur'an and Hadith. The bulk of the collection consists of manuscripts in Arabic and Persian, along with examples of Coptic, Samaritan, Syriac, Turkish, and Berber. The primary partners are Columbia University, the Free Library of Philadelphia, and the University of Pennsylvania with significant contributions from Bryn Mawr College and Haverford College. This collection is funded by the Council on Library and Information Resources."