Yes, you may examine the physical manuscript!
Manuscripts from the Islamic Manuscripts Collection may be consulted under supervision onsite in the reading room of the Special Collections Research Center on the 6th floor of Hatcher (South Building). Lockers are provided to store belongings and use of cameras is permitted.
Staff will provide instructions and assistance with handling. Weights, magnifiers, light wands, etc are all available for use.
We are also happy to arrange collection visits for guided viewing of materials --- contact the curator to make arrangements.
We look forward to welcoming you in the library!
In order to view a manuscript in our reading room, you will need to register and place a request through our online system. Full instructions are found here.
We highly recommend placing a manuscript request in advance of your visit to the Library.
If you have located a manuscript of interest by searching our Library Catalog Searchue, you may easily place your request by clicking the Request this link. You will be asked to log in and a New Request form will appear with bibliographic details for the manuscript. Complete the form with the date of your visit and then click the submit button.
The University of Michigan does not hold the copyright for the manuscripts and so cannot grant or deny permission regarding their use to you or your publisher.
However, we are more than happy to acknowledge your use.
Please forward a message with your intention to to quote, publish, or reproduce an image from a manuscript to the curator, Evyn Kropf (ekropf@umich.edu). In the request, include:
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 may also cite the catalogue record describing the manuscript by including the url: