Table of Contents
- Collection Summary
- Scope and Content Note
- Subject Headings
- Administrative Information
- Access and Use
- Encoding Information
- Series List
- Container List
Collection Summary
| Repository: | Archives and Special Collections Library, Vassar College Libraries |
|---|---|
| Creator: | Vassar College. Library |
| Title: | Islamic Manuscripts Collection |
| Dates: | 10th century - 19th century |
| Quantity: | 14 codices, 10 leaves and fragments |
| Abstract: | Codices and manuscript leaves from different parts of the Islamic World, primarily of the Qur'an and excerpts of the Qur'an. Also includes scholarly and literary works. |
| Languages of Material: | Arabic; Persian; Turkish, Ottoman. |
Scope and Content Note
Codices and manuscript leaves from different parts of the Islamic World, primarily of the Qur'an and excerpts of the Qur'an. Also includes scholarly and literary works. The majority of materials originate from historic Persia (modern day Iran) and the Ottoman Empire.
TopAccess and Use
Access
This collection is open for research according to the regulations of the Vassar College Archives and Special Collections Library without any additional restrictions.
Restrictions on Use
Permission to quote (publish) from unpublished or previously published material must be obtained as described in the regulations of the Vassar College Archives and Special Collections Library.
Subject Headings
Names:
- Amīr Khusraw Dihlavī, approximately 1253-1325
- Erzurumlu İbrâhim Hakkı, 1703-1780?
- Jazūlī, Muḥammad ibn Sulaymān, 1404-1465
- Kâtip Çelebi, 1609-1657
- Niẓāmī Ganjavī, 1140 or 1141-1202 or 1203
- Zayn al-ʻĀbidīn ʻAlī ibn al-Ḥusayn, -710?
- Ṭabarsī, al-Faḍl ibn al-Ḥasan, -1153
Subjects:
- Illumination of books and manuscripts, Arab
- Illumination of books and manuscripts, Iranian
- Illumination of books and manuscripts, Turkish
- Islamic illumination of books and manuscripts
- Manuscripts, Arabic
- Manuscripts, Persian
- Manuscripts, Turkish
- Qur'an--Manuscripts
Document Types:
- Codices (bound manuscripts)
- Illuminated manuscripts
- Manuscripts (documents)
- Qur'ans
VCL Categories:
- Islamic Manuscripts
Administrative Information
Preferred Citation
Islamic Manuscripts Collection, Archives and Special Collections Library, Vassar College Libraries.
Processing Information
Processed by Emma Gronbeck, October 2024. Updated, January 2025.
All items in this collection have been catalogued bibliographically and their catalog records can be viewed by searching the Vassar College Libraries Online Catalog or by following the links in the item call numbers listed below.
Arabic MS 2, 8 and 9 were separated from the Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts Collection and incorporated into this collection, January 2024.
Arabic MS 11 was separated from the Ernest Sturm Collection and catalogued as part of the Islamic Manuscripts Collection, January 2025.
Persian MS 6 was separated from the Ruth Lamb Atkinson Papers and catalogued as part of the Islamic Manuscripts Collection, January 2025.
Acquisition Information
Arabic MS 1 is of unknown origin.
Arabic MS 2, 8, and 9 are of unknown origin, possibly acquired from bookseller Otto F. Ege.
Arabic MS 3 was the gift of William Bancroft Hill, 1932.
Arabic MS 4 and 10 were the gift of Elizabeth Howe (VC 1882), 1929.
Arabic MS 5 was the gift of Mildred E. Cook, 1959.
Arabic MS 6 was the gift of Janet (Bartlett) Cartwright (VC 1921), Jul 1957.
Arabic MS 7 was the gift of Ethel M. Fair (VC 1906), Nov 1971. Given to her by the Council and Faculties of the American University at Cairo in 1952.
Arabic MS 11 was the gift of Ruth Foster Sturm, 1997. It was collected by her father, Ernest Sturm.
Persian MS 1-4 and Turkish MS 1-2 were the bequest of Frederick F. Thompson, 1924.
Persian MS 5 was the gift of Ada Thurston (VC 1880), 1939.
Persian MS 6 was the gift of Ruth Lamb Atkinson (VC 1918), 1975.
Turkish MS 3 was the gift of Helen (Morgenthau) Fox (VC 1905), 1940.
Series List
Series I. Arabic Manuscripts, 10th century - 19th century |
|---|
Series II. Persian Manuscripts, 1587 - 19th century |
|---|
Series III. Turkish Manuscripts, 16th century - 18th century |
|---|
Container List
Series I. Arabic Manuscripts | |
|---|---|
| Arabic MS 1 | A Leaf from a Qur'an, in Arabic (Maghribi Kufic script) [North Africa], 10th century - 11th century [framed leaf in wooden case, 160 mm x 100 mm] |
| Arabic MS 2 | A Leaf from a Qur'an (Sūrat al-Rūm), in Arabic (Maghribi script), 11th century - 12th century [240 mm x 215 mm; Previously Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts Collection, Leaf 51] |
| Arabic MS 3 | Qur'an, in Arabic (Naskh script) [Persia], 17th century - 18th century [335 mm x 240 mm] |
| Arabic MS 4 | Qur'an, in Arabic (Naskh script), 1854 [215 mm x 160 mm] |
| Arabic MS 5 | Ṭabarsī, al-Faḍl ibn al-Ḥasan (-1153), Hādhā Nathr al-La'ālī li-'Alī 'alayhi al-salām, in Arabic (Naskh script) [Persia], 1843 or 1844 (1259 Hijiri) [110 mm x 80 mm] |
| Arabic MS 6 | Qur'an, in Arabic (Naskh script) [Ottoman Empire], 1857 or 1858 [180 mm x 130 mm] |
| Arabic MS 7 | Qur'an, in Arabic (Naskh script) [Ottoman Empire], 16th century - 17th century [230 mm x 130 mm] |
| Arabic MS 8 | Zayn al-ʻĀbidīn ʻAlī ibn al-Ḥusayn (-710?), A Leaf from Ṣaḥīfah al-Sajjādīyah, a book of supplications attributed to Imam Zayn al-Abidin (ca. 658–712), in Arabic [Persia], 18th century - 19th century [175 mm x 125 mm; Previously Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts Collection, Leaf 73] |
| Arabic MS 9 | Jazūlī, Muḥammad ibn Sulaymān (1404-1465), A Leaf from Dalāʼil al-khayrāt [The Guide to Goodness], a compilation of prayers and salawat for the Prophet Muhammad, in Arabic, 17th century - 18th century [165 mm x 110 mm; Previously Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts Collection, Leaf 70] |
| Arabic MS 10 | Qu'ran, in Arabic (Naskh script), 1854 (1270 Hijiri) [230 mm x 170 mm] |
| Arabic MS 11 | Qu'ran, in Arabic (Naskh script) [Ottoman Empire], 1854 [155 mm x 105 mm] |
Series II. Persian Manuscripts | |
| Persian MS 1 | Anthology of Persian poems [Persia (Mashhad)], 1587 (995 Hijiri) [240 mm x 150 mm] |
| Persian MS 2 | Persian Legend [Persia], 1741 (1154 Hijiri) [270 mm x 150 mm] |
| Persian MS 3 | Amīr Khusraw Dihlavī (approximately 1253-1325), Majnūn va Laylī [Book of Leili and Majnoon] [Persia], 17th century - 18th century [300 mm x 200 mm] |
| Persian MS 4 | [Rashti, Agha Hussein?], Persian Masnavi [Persia], [Before 1735] [240 mm x 140 mm] |
| Persian MS 5 | Fragment of Amīr Arsalān Nāmdār by Muḥammad ʿAlī Naqīb [Persia], 19th century [430 mm x 190 mm] |
| Persian MS 6 | Five leaves from Haft Paykar by Niẓāmī Ganjavī (1140 or 1141-1202 or 1203) [Persia], 16th century - 17th century [5 leaves, 290 mm x 160 mm] |
Series III. Turkish Manuscripts | |
| Turkish MS 1 | Erzurumlu İbrâhim Hakkı (1703-1780?), Ma'rifet-nāme, in Ottoman Turkish (Naskh script) [Ottoman Empire], 1781 [315 mm x 215 mm] |
| A scholarly encyclopedia covering, among other subjects, astronomy, astrology, anatomy, physiology, psychology, physics, mathematics, biology, geometry, physiognomy, faith, and Sufism. | |
| Turkish MS 2 | Kâtip Çelebi [Hajji Khalifa] (1609-1657), Cihannümâ, in Ottoman Turkish (Naskh script) [Ottoman Empire], 18th century [310 mm x 210 mm] |
| This work is a comprehensive universal geographical history, featuring several colorful maps and atlases of various regions of the world. Marginal correction by the same scribe throughout. | |
| Turkish MS 3 | Prayer Book, in Turkish and Arabic (Naskh script) [Ottoman Empire], 16th century - 17th century [150 mm x 105 mm] |
Return to the Table of Contents
Details
Codices and manuscript leaves from
different parts of the Islamic World, primarily of the Qur'an and excerpts of the
Qur'an. Also includes scholarly and literary works.
