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Islamic Manuscript Studies

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

Workforms / Datasheets Resources

For a guide to structuring your descriptive notes (particularly helpful as you prepare for a visit to a manuscript repository) see:

"Appendix V. Describing the Manuscript" in Adam Gacek's Arabic Manuscripts: A Vademecum for Readers (Leiden: Brill, 2009): 333-338.
"The present appendix constitutes a manuscript data-sheet, a check-list of the major components of a manuscript's description. The data-sheet is only a guideline and can be adapted according to a particular angle of investigation and/or need. In a nut-shell, it reflects the various aspects of Arabic manuscript studies discussed in the present vademecum (AMVR)."

The COMSt Handbook is also a helpful resource.

For sample copies of such workforms feel free to contact me.


For a project larger in scope (e.g. entire collection, multiple collections, etc.), see the resources of The International Treasury of Islamic Manuscripts, a TIMA sponsored initiative offering online manuscript catalogue hosting free of charge. 

Physical Examination Resources

Physical examination is incredibly important for adequately assessing a manuscript's history and for properly characterizing its material qualities.

Essential elements:

  • Binding / structure
  • Writing material (support)
  • Dimensions
  • Layout
  • Collation
  • Overall condition

Essential equipment:

  • measuring tape or ruler
  • light source
  • clean hands
  • weights and supports (typically provided by the repository)
  • pencil / paper and or electronic device for recording notes, etc.

Essential techniques:

  • Collation
  • Measurement
  • Viewing in transmitted light
  • Viewing in raking light
  • Touch (where possible)

Contact me directly for a sample physical description workform in electronic format.

See the manuals and readings listed elsewhere on this guide for a more in depth introduction to the various elements.

Hands-on experience is ideal for guidance and training in physical examination. Watch for workshop opportunities and feel free to contact me to set up a hands-on session to step through techniques together.

Terminology Resources

Binabīn, Aḥmad Shawqī and Muṣṭafá Ṭūbī. معجم مصطلحات المخطوط العربي : قاموس كوديكولوجي = Muʻjam muṣṭalaḥāt al-makhṭūṭ al-ʻArabī: Qāmūs kūdīkūlūjī. al-Ribāṭ: al-Khizānah al-Ḥasanīyah, 2004.

CCAHA’s "An Illustrated Guide to Book Terminology. Part One: Book Structure" Available online

Codicologia / كوديكولجيا , a glossary of codicological terminology in French and Arabic. "Codicologia est une application informatique qui fournit un vocabulaire multilingue pour la description des manuscrits. Elle entend proposer un instrument de travail à tous les catalogueurs de manuscrits, les éditeurs de textes et plus généralement à tous ceux qui s'intéressent aux manuscrits anciens." Available online

COMSt Handbook =  Comparative Oriental Manuscript Studies: An Introduction, Eds. Alessandro Bausi et al. Hamburg: Tredition, 2015. Available online 

Déroche, François, et al. Manuel de codicologie des manuscrits en écriture arabe. [Paris] : Bibliothèque nationale de France, c2000.

-------. al-Madkhal ilá ʻilm al-kitāb al-makhṭūṭ bi-al-ḥarf al-ʻArabī. Landan : Muʼassasat al-Furqān lil-Turāth al-Islāmī, 2005.

-------. Islamic Codicology: An Introduction to the Study of Manuscripts in Arabic Script. London: Al-Furqān Islamic Heritage Foundation, 2006.

------- and Valentina Sagaria Rossi. I manoscritti in caratteri arabi. Roma : Viella, 2012.

Gacek, Adam. The Arabic Manuscript Tradition: A Glossary of Technical Terms and Bibliography. Leiden: Brill, 2001.

-------. The Arabic Manuscript Tradition: A Glossary of Technical Terms and Bibliography – Supplement. Leiden: Brill, 2008.

-------. Arabic Manuscripts: A Vademecum for Readers. Leiden: Brill, 2009.

-------. Arapça Elyazmaları İçin Rehber. trc. Ali Benli & M. Cüneyt Kaya. İstanbul: Klasik Yayinevi, 2017.

Ghelichkhani, Hamid Reza (Ḥamīd Riz̤ā Qilīchʹkhānī). Zarʹafshān : farhang-i iṣṭilāḥāt va tarkībāt-i khūshnivīsī, kitābʹārāyī va nuskhahʹpardāzī dar shiʻr-i Fārsī = Zar afshān: a dictionary of terms relating to calligraphy, ornament, and the making of manuscripts as found in classical Persian poetry. Tihrān: Farhang-i Muʻāṣir, 2013. 

--------. A Handbook of Persian Calligraphy and Related Arts, edited by Shervin Farridnejad and translated by Rebecca Stengel. Leiden: Brill, [2021].

al-Ḥalwajī, ʻAbd al-Sattār. Naḥwa ʻilm makhṭūṭāt ʻArabī. al-Qahirah: Dar al-Qahirah, 2004.

Hepworth, Paul and Karin Scheper. "Terminology For the Conservation and Description of Islamic Manuscripts." Available online  

Language of Bindings Thesaurus (LoB) (from Ligatus Research Centre) Available online 

Māyil Hiravī, Rez̤a. Lughāt va iṣṭilāhāt-i fann-i kitābsāzī: hamrāh bā iṣṭilāhāt-i jildʹsāzi, taẕhi̲b, naqqāshī. [Tehran] : Bunyād-i Farhang-i Īrān, 1353 [1974].

Miller, Julia. Books Will Speak Plain: A Handbook for Identifying and Describing Historical Bindings.  Ann Arbor, MI: The Legacy Press, 2010.

Roberts, Matt and Don Etherington. Bookbinding and the Conservation of Books: A Dictionary of Descriptive Terminology. Washington : Library of Congress : 1982 (available online in HathiTrust and in full-text searchable form via CoOL )

Ṣafarī Āqʹqalʻah, ʻAlī. Nuskhahʹshinākht: pizhūhishnāmah-ʼi nuskhahʹshināsī-i nusakh-i khaṭṭī-i Fārsī [= Handbook of Persian codicology: an introduction to the study of Persian manuscripts]. Tihrān: Markaz-i Pizhūhishī-i Mīrās̲-i Maktūb, 2011.

Sayyid, Ayman Fuʾād. al-Kitāb al-ʻArabī al-makhṭūṭ wa-ʻilm al-makhṭūṭāt. al-Qāhirah : al-Dār al-Miṣrīyah al-Lubnānīyah, 1997.

Özen, Mine Esiner. Yazma kitap sanatları sözlüğü. İstanbul: İstanbul Üniversitesi, Fen Fakültesi, 1985.

-------. Türk cilt sanatı. [Ankara]: Türkiye İş Bankası Kültür Yayınları, 1998. 

Seal Impressions Resources

Afshar, Iraj. "ʻArz (عرض) dans la tradition bibliothéconomique irano-indienne." In Scribes et manuscrits du Moyen-Orient, Eds. François Déroche and Francis Richard (Paris: Bibliothèque Nationale de France, 1997): 331-343

Esmaili, Mozhgan. Chancellery System and Its Sigillography during the Contemporaneous Reigns of the Safavids in Iran & the Great Mughals in India. New Delhi: Indian Bibliographies Bureau, 2008.

Gacek, Adam. "Ownership statements and seals in Arabic manuscripts." Manuscripts of the Middle East 2 (1987): 88-95

Gallop, Annabel Teh. Malay Seals from the Islamic World of Southeast Asia. Singapore: NUS Press, 2019.

------- and Venetia Porter. Lasting Impressions: Seals from the Islamic World. Kuala Lumpur: Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia, 2012.

-------. "Exceptions to the Rule: Malay Seals in Manuscript Books." In Archipel 74 (2007): 139-164

-------. "Ottoman Influences in the Seal of Sultan Alauddin Riayat Syah of Aceh (r. 1589-1604)." Indonesia and the Malay World 32, 93 (2004):176-190

Hammer-Purgstall, Joseph. Abhandlung über die Siegel der Araber, Perser und Türken. Wien: Kaiserlich-Königlichen hof- und Staatsdruckerei, 1850 (available online via HathiTrust)

Jiddī, Muḥammad Javād (جدی، محمد جواد) 

جدی، محمد جواد. مهر‌ها و نقش مهر‌ها در سازمان اسناد و کتابخانه ملی ايران. تهران: انتشارات سازمان اسناد و کتابخانه ملی جمهوری اسلامی ایران، 1396 = 2017

جدی، محمد جواد. دانشنامه مهر‌ و حکاکی در ايران. تهران: کتابخانه موزه و مرکز اسناد مجلس شورای اسلامی، 1392 = 2013

جدی، محمد جواد. مهرهای سلطنی در مجموعه موزه کاخ گلستان. تهران: کتابخانه موزه و مرکز اسناد مجلس شورای اسلامی، 1390 = 2011

Kalus, Ludvik. Catalogue of Islamic Seals and Talismans. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1986. (available via Ashmolean Publications Online)

Kut, Günay and Nimet Bayraktar. Yazma eserlerde vakıf mühürleri. Ankara : Kültür ve Turizm Bakanlığı, 1984.

--------. Yazma Eserlerde Vakıf Mühürleri (= أختام الأوقاف في المخطوطات) İstanbul: Türkiye Yazma Eserler Kurumu Başkanlığı, 2021 (available online open access)

Liebrenz, Boris. “What's in a Seal? Identification and Interpretation of ʿAbd al-Bāqī Ibn al-ʿArabī’s (d. 971/1564) Seal and Its Function," Journal of Islamic Manuscripts 13, 1 (2022): 55-80.

Mirzaabolghasemi, Mohammad Sadegh (میرزاابوالقاسمی، محمدصادق)

میرزاابوالقاسمی، محمدصادق. آداب مهرنویسی در دورۀ اسلامی از ایلخانان تا پایان قاجاریه. تهران: سازمان اسناد و کتابخانه ملی جمهوری اسلامی ایران، 1394 = 2015 

"Stamps." In François Déroche, et al. Islamic Codicology: An Introduction to the Study of Manuscripts in the Arabic Script (London: Al-Furqān Islamic Heritage Foundation, 2006): 330-344

Polosin, Val. V. and Efim A. Rezvan, “The Asiatic Museum Project: 1. Data-base on Muslim Seals.” Manuscripta Orientalia 1,1 (July 1995): 53-55 (available online)

Porter, Venetia. Arabic and Persian Seals and Amulets in the British Museum. London : British Museum, 2011.

Seyller, John. "The Inspection and Valuation of Manuscripts in the Imperial Mughal Library." Artibus Asiae 57, iii-iv (1997): 243-349

Resources for Manuscript Notes

Search (by name etc) in other institutional cataloguing platforms (U-M Library Advanced Catalog Search >> Special Collections >> Islamic Manuscripts), Princeton University Library Catalog, etc) as well 

Online lessons / exercises

Authority work