Skip to Main Content

Islamic Manuscripts Collection

Information about using the Islamic Manuscripts Collection held at the University of Michigan Library.

Have all the manuscripts been digitized?

Most (but not all) manuscripts from the collection have been fully digitized.

At this stage, 1041 volumes are available for viewing and full download (in their entirety) via the HathiTrust Digital Library.

Log in is not required to view or download the manuscripts. See instructions below for downloading as pdf. Images may also be retrieved via the HathiTrust DataAPI.

Digitization for additional manuscripts may be considered in the future. Some manuscripts are currently not being digitized due to condition issues. 

How do I find digitized manuscripts?

Browse a list of digitized manuscripts by title, main author or date:

Search for digitized manuscripts on descriptive keywords (including shelfmark e.g. "isl. ms. 529", titles, authors, subjects, former owners, copyists, and other bibliographical, historical and codicological details):

  • In the Library Catalog Search (Advanced Search)
    • Check the box "Limit to available online" or "Hathi Trust Digital Library only" before entering your search terms.
  • In the HathiTrust Digital Library catalogue 
    • Select "Manuscript" under "Original Format" on the Advanced Search page before entering your search terms to help refine results.

See Finding manuscripts for more details on locating manuscripts (digitized or not), including sample searches.

How do I view a digitized manuscript?

 

First, browse or search. Then look for the link to view online in HathiTrust:

In Library Catalog Search

  • Look for the "Full text" link

In HathiTrust

  • Look for the "Full view" link.

How do I download a manuscript?

 

Each digitized manuscript is available for full download from the HathiTrust Digital Library.

When viewing the manuscript images in the HathiTrust interface, look for the links under "Get this Book" in the navigation bar on the left.

Click on the "Download whole book (PDF)" link to download the entire digitized manuscript.

 

How do I cite a digitized manuscript?

We request that you include a proper citation with any quote, reproduction or other publication from a manuscript from the collection. Please follow this model when citing a manuscript, using the appropriate shelfmark / call number and page or folio number:

for example

 p.47, Isl. Ms. 860 v.1, University of Michigan Library (Special Collections Research Center), Ann Arbor

You should find the shelfmark (call number) for the digitized manuscript in the "Shelfmark:" note of the HathiTrust catalogue record.

From the HathiTrust viewer interface, follow the url to the catalogue record:

Then look for the "Shelfmark:" note:

You may also cite the catalogue record describing the manuscript by including the url for the catalogue record as it appears in your browser's navigation bar:

HathiTrust Data Availability and APIs

HathiTrust bibliographic metadata, page images, and OCR generated text (where available) can be retrieved via available HathiTrust APIs 

Images and descriptive metadata for the digitized manuscripts of the Islamic Manuscripts Collection can be retrieved using the HathiTrust Data API. Bibliographic records can be retrieved using the HathiTrust Bibliographic API or OAI feed.