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Learning about manuscripts

On this page, I share useful resources for learning more about the manuscripts of the Muslim world. The websites listed below are suitable for beginners and above and cover a broad range of subjects, so there is something for everyone! Images on this page are from BV 72 (Bryn Mawr, PA, Bryn Mawr College Libraries, Special Collections), OPenn.

In the summer of 2018 I was fortunate enough to attend a two-week course in Leiden organised by Dorrit van Dalen, the creator of this fantastic resource. The website hosts a collection of lessons in codicology (the study of handwritten documents or codices) and palaeography from the Muslim world. The lessons are authored by a number of experts, including Dorrit herself and Peter Webb.

 

The lessons are based on digitalised manuscripts from the oriental collection of Leiden University Libraries, and include samples in Arabic, Persian and Coptic, from cultures ranging from the Maghrib to Mughal India. 

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This site was created to accompany the Manuscripts of the Muslim World (MMW) project by Kelly Tuttle, the cataloger of the project. It is intended to introduce novices to the basics of looking at Islamic manuscripts, and thus holds basic information and resources relating to this topic. 

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There are 7 content pages: Basics, Binding, Substrate, Layout, Scripts, Decoration, Notes. Each page links to a short exercise that will let you test your knowledge.

 

There is also a useful Glossary page, a References page, and a SIMS Resources page.

This site is the initiative of Jan Just Witkam, now Emeritus-Professor of Paleography and Codicology of the Islamic world at Leiden University.

 

The website has a number of pages, though most relevant here is Prof. Witkam's course in Islamic paleography. The course features specimens of Arabic, Malay, and Persian manuscripts (as well as a number of model books by calligraphy masters), together with short bibliographical descriptions and the transcription of a small portion of the text. Students can use the provided transcription to become accustomed with the unique hand within each manuscript. 

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