Welcome to Al-Furqan’s E-Database
The largest gateway of Islamic written heritage
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‘World Collections’ databank / collection
The ‘World Collections’ databank / collection holds the digitised outcome of the survey on the collections of Islamic manuscripts in the world, completed and published by the Al-Furqan Foundation in 1994, under the title “The World Survey of Islamic Manuscripts”.. This Survey is available in both the English and Arabic language.
This flagship project (the only one of this type to date) started in 1989, focusing on identifying and recording undocumented Islamic manuscript collections in the world, with the aim to support and instigate research into the field of Islamic manuscripts. A number of known scholars and experts contributed to this encyclopaedic work.
The Survey identified collections in 106 countries. It is a compilation of detailed independent studies, highlighting just over a million and a half Islamic manuscripts from just over 2,500 collections. These collections, in more than 40 languages, belong to public and private libraries in almost 1,300 cities. It gathered extensive information about these libraries, including details about their establishment and the status of their collections, unveiling in the process rare manuscripts. For example, the collection of manuscripts at the Institute of Oriental Culture (University of Tokyo) - that was acquired in 1987 - included several new and unique Islamic manuscripts. The noteworthy discoveries were two copies of Risala fi anwaʿ al-mashruʿat, a comprehensive work on the terminology of jurisprudence, by Luṭf Allah al-Kaydani (died 1349 AD /750 AH). These were significant findings, as they had not even been mentioned in the most renowned classical period references, such as Brockelmann's famous work Geschichte der Arabischen Litteratur (GAL), Sezgin's Geschichte Des Arabischens Schriftums (GAS), and Kaḥḥala's Muʿjam al-muʾallifin.
A large number of the identified libraries have listed and included detailed descriptions about the manuscripts held in their collection, in a form of a document or publication. This publication is known as a ‘catalogue’; with most of them published and available for purchase. Another form of a published catalogue is one that was compiled by a group of libraries, known as ‘library consortium’. These libraries partnered to combine their collections into one unified published catalogue, known as a ‘union catalogue’.
Some libraries held collections that were not catalogued or documented. Others made an attempt to describe their collections in simplified lists and general documentations. These were usually not published and are known as ‘unpublished catalogues’.
A unique outcome of the Survey was the identification of all the various catalogues. Just over 5,500 catalogues of Islamic manuscripts were surveyed, including the listing of almost 700 union catalogues, and almost 1,000 unpublished catalogues.
All this information and much more is ready to be explored on theAl-Furqan Digital Library, under the ‘World Collections’ databank.
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| Contact: | Dublin Castle, Dublin 2, Irland |
| Telephone: | 353-1-692386, 695187. |
| Date of establishment: | Sir Alfred Chester Beatty was a lifelong collector of Oriental art and manuscripts. His library at Baroda House, London was already recognised in the 1930s as a famous collection. It was more formally established when it was brought to Dublin in 1950, when building commenced at the present site at the above address [the above address is updated in 2016]. |
| Status: | Institutional |
| Condition of access: | It is open to the public, Tuesday-Friday 10.00–17.00, Saturday 14.30–17.00; on Sundays and Mondays the buildings are closed. |
| Total number of Islamic MSS: | ca. 3,510 (2,896 Arabic; 1 Chaghatay; 1 Kurdish; 454 Persian; 158 Turkish). |
| Description of Collection: | The Chester Beatty collection is housed in three buildings. The largest of these is the gallery which contains the art treasures. There is a second building which is the original Library building. This now contains display and storage areas. The Arabic manuscripts are kept in a third, single storey building. At the time of writing the fourth building on the complex, originally the Librarian's house, is in the process of being turned into an administration block where all the staff will ultimately have their offices. It is proposed that all manuscripts will ultimately be stored in one atmospherically controlled location in the complex. There are three curators. The Islamic curator is responsible for all Islamic manuscripts and paintings, regardless of their origin. Almost all the manuscripts are in excellent condition. Indeed, Sir Alfred Chester Beatty chose the finest and best illuminated manuscripts he could find in the Near and Middle East. The collection is well kept and in no immediate danger, but a full conservation survey is still required. The collection, which is almost entirely catalogued, contains works on all subjects including poetry, history, law, fiqh, theology, logic, philosophy, medicine and exegesis of the Qurʾan. Some manuscripts date from the late Kufic period. There are 27 pieces of Arabic papyri from Egypt containing letters, documents and some fragments of the Muʿallaqat, the oldest known poetry in Arabic. These are uncatalogued, though Dr Yousef Ragheb of the CNRS, Paris, examined them several years ago with the object of including them in a forthcoming corpus of papyrus documents. There are in the Chester Beatty Library 2,500 catalogued Arabic manuscripts as well as a total of 244 manuscripts of the Holy Qurʾan originating from all Islamic countries, from West Africa to China. An additional 152 Arabic MSS, [see Unpublished catalogues in Info & Ref page]. include notably: MS. 5527: Al-Dhayl, Supplement to the History of Ibn Qaḍi Shuhba (d. 851/1448). Autograph copy dated 810/1407. MS. 5570: Kunuz al-Asrar, a collection of prayers by ʿAbd Allah al-Khayyaṭ al-Fasi, one of the finest manuscripts from Islamic West Africa. MS. 5571: An untitled eulogy of Gayt Bay (1468–96), by Muḥammad al-Qalqashandi. MS. 5596: An untitled military treatise written for Al-Naṣir Muḥammad (d. 1340). MS. 5632: Al-ʿIqd al-Manẓum fi Dhikr Afaḍil al-Rum by ʿAli Efendi (d. 1584). A fine 16th-century copy. MS. 5638: A history of Hadramawt between 501/1112 and 910/ 1532, by Aḥmad ibn ʿAbd Allah called ‘Shanbal’. MS. 5642: An illustrated treatise on magic and alchemy, the Kitab al-Aqalim al-Sabʿa, 17th-century. MS. 5651: The Damʿat al-Baki of Ibn Faḍl Allah al-ʿUmari. A collection of prose and verse made by Al-ʿUmari (d. 1349). The Persian MSS are notable especially for their miniatures, and they include, as well the important schools of Iran and neighbouring areas, well-known products of the Mughal court painters of the emperors Akbar, Jahangir and Shahjahan, with the texts in Persian. There are an additional 23 Persian manuscripts which are included at the end of the catalogue of additional Arabic manuscripts by David James [see that catalogue in Info & Ref page], MSS pp. 419–32. They are almost all poetic in content, including selected quatrains from ʿUmar Khayyam, the second volume of a two-volume Shahnamah, three copies of the Divan of Azraqi and two copies of the Divan of Muʿizzi; a Persian translation of, and commentary on, the Burda of Al-Buṣiri and, in the same manuscript (p. 442), a work by ʿAli Shir Navaʾi on the art of poetics, followed by his Divan; these works by Navaʾi are all composed in the Chaghatay language. The important Turkish collection is particularly rich in illustrated manuscripts, including the History of Sultan Süleyman, MS. 413, the Zübdetül-Tevarih, MS. 414 and the Siyer-i Nebi, MS. 419. The Ottoman texts cover poetry, belles-lettres, moral tales and natural history, as well as religious books, e.g. commentaries on the Qurʾan and on the Burda of al-Buṣiri, and works on history, architecture, medicine, chess and the Arabic language. A few are fatwas. Most manuscripts date from ca. 1500–1900; one manuscript dates from before 1500. There is one manuscript in Chaghatay Turkic, MS. T281, a Divan of the poet Mir ʿAli Shir Navaʾi, dated 906/1500–1, with three fine miniatures, one damaged. Manuscript T65 contains eight specimens of Turkish calligraphy. There is also a firman of condolence dated 1207/1801 sent by the Ottoman Grand Vizir to Sir Ralph Abercrombie, who was mortally wounded at the Battle of Alexandria in that year. The firman has been translated into English by N. Hagopian, and this is appended to the document. There is one manuscript in Kurdish, MS. K413 entitled Tuḥfat al-Qadiriya, by Abu 'l-Maʿali Muslimi, a biography of ʿAbd al-Qadir Gilani, 18th-century, 362 folios. Two manuscripts are deposited in the Chester Beatty from University College, Cork. One is a copy of the Akhlaq-i Naṣiri in Persian, dated 1030/1621. The other is the Divan of the poet ʿAli in Turkish. The Library has a large archive of correspondence between Sir Alfred Chester Beatty and dealers, suppliers, and academics. This valuable material not only includes full details of Beatty's collecting activities from ca. 1914 onwards, but provides exact provenance for many of the manuscripts in the collection, together with information on material examined but not purchased, some of which has certainly disappeared. This material was provisionally sorted some years ago and is accessible by files, in alphabetical order, which contain the correspondence between Beatty and people whose surnames begin with the letter of the file. There is unfortunately no index to this material, which is currently stored in the Library boiler room. But it is available by file on request. |
| Notes: | The Chester Beatty Library was originally a private collection. Today it is administered by a board of trustees, and supported by an annual grant-in-aid given by the Irish Department of Finance. But like all major museums and art galleries in Ireland it comes under the jurisdiction of the Department of the Taoiseach (Prime Minister). Enquiries, however, should be directed to the Librarian/ Director of the Chester Beatty Library at the address given above. See published World Survey of Islamic Manuscripts. 1992 - 1994, Vol.2, p 54. |
| Published Catalogues: | 14 |
| Unpublished Catalogues: | 4 |
| Online access: | http://www.cbl.ie/ |
| Published Catalogues Total: 14 | 1936 |
1955 – 1966 | |
1958 | |
1959 – 1962 | |
1967 | |
1969 | |
1970 | |
1971 – 1978 | |
1974 – 1976 | |
1976 – 1979 | |
1980 | |
1981 | |
1983 | |
1993 | |
| Unpublished Catalogues Total: 4 | There are 64 additional Turkish manuscripts which are listed in a typed, unpublished Supplementary Handlist compiled by Dr G. Meredith-Owens, numbered Tl–64. This also contains descriptions of fourteen Persian manuscripts including the numbers P400–412. |
There are 152 additional Arabic manuscripts, MSS 5501–5652. A complete list of these manuscripts was prepared some years ago by Dr D. James, Islamic Curator of the Chester Beatty. Although this is only available at the Library in manuscript form, it gives the title, author, copyist, date, and reference in Brockelmann's Geschichte der arabischen Literatur, for each manuscript. The most important of these manuscripts is probably a copy of the Nihāyat al-Suʾl wa-'l-Umniya, the well-known military encyclopaedia of Al-Aqsarāʾī, dated 1365. This was published by David James in 1974: ‘Mamluke painting at the time of the Lusignan Crusade, 1366–70’, Humaniora Islamica, 2, 1974, pp. 73–87. This list of additional Arabic manuscripts also includes details of 23 Persian manuscripts, MSS 419–442. | |
In the 1950s Chester Beatty commissioned the late Professor David Storm Rice to produce a catalogue of the Qurʾāns. Rice began the work and had completed a handwritten survey of the collection by the time of his death. This is lodged with his papers in the Mayer Memorial Institute, Jerusalem. A photocopy is available in the Chester Beatty Library. | |
Dr Paul Kahle, who worked at the Chester Beatty for several years during the 1930s and 1940s, compiled elaborate descriptions of Arabic MSS 4251–5280, giving complete bibliographical details. Dr Kahle typed his results on to sheets which have been bound into five substantial volumes. Only one copy of this big catalogue exists, though a microfilm is available. Obviously Dr Kahle's catalogue is of indispensable value for Arabists. Unfortunately it describes only half of the collection of Arabic manuscripts in the Chester Beatty. |
| Bibliographical appendix Total: 12 | The theory of music in Arabic writing (c. 900–1900): descriptive catalogue of manuscripts in libraries of Europe and the USA. |
1938 | |
1967 | |
1971 | |
1972 | |
1978 | |
1982 | |
1983 | |
1984 | |
1984 | |
1990 | |
1991 |
Cities surveyed
Libraries surveyed
Catalogues surveyed
