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Finding Aid for the Exhibit collection of Near Eastern manuscripts, 1492-1848
1656
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Title: Exhibit collection of Near Eastern manuscripts
Date (inclusive): 1492-1848
Collection number: 1656
Extent:
5 boxes (2.5 linear ft.)
Abstract: Collection consists of Persian, Ottoman Turkish, Arabic, and Armenian manuscripts dating from 1492-1848. The collection includes
bound manuscripts, scrolls, manuscript fragments, decorative book covers, and artifacts. Subjects include history, lexicography,
belles-lettres, theology, and philosophy.
Languages: Materials in this collection are primarily in Persian, with some in Arabic, Ottoman Turkish and Armenian.
Repository:
University of California, Los Angeles. Library. Department of Special Collections.
Los Angeles, California 90095-1575
Physical location: Boxes 1-4 stored off-site at SRLF; box 5 in YRL Special Collections stacks. Advance notice is required for access to the collection.
Please contact the UCLA Library, Department of Special Collections Reference Desk for paging information.
COLLECTION STORED OFF-SITE AT SRLF: Open for research. Advance notice required for access. Contact the UCLA Library, Department
of Special Collections Reference Desk for paging information.
Restrictions on Use and Reproduction
Property rights to the physical object belong to the UCLA Library,
Department of Special Collections. Literary rights, including copyright,
are retained by the creators and their heirs. It is the responsibility of
the researcher to determine who holds the copyright and pursue the
copyright owner or his or her heir for permission to publish where The UC
Regents do not hold the copyright.
Provenance/Source of Acquisition
In 1991, for a potential future exhibition, the majority of the items in this collection were selected from two other collection
in the department: the Minasian Collection og Near Eastern Manuscripts (Collection 1147) and the Qayani Collection of Arabic
and Persian Manuscripts (Collection 1053).
Cataloging by Ali Anooshahr, with assistance from Laurel McPhee, Fall 2004, in the Center For Primary Research and Training
(CFPRT).
[Identification of item], Exhibit collection of Near Eastern manuscripts (Collection Number 1656). Department of Special Collections,
Charles E. Young Research Library, UCLA.
The collection consists of illustrated and illuminated manuscripts from the Ṣafawid, Ottoman, Qajar, and Timurid domains,
illustrated Armenian scrolls, decorative lacquered book covers, and several artifacts. There are eight works of belles-lettres,
including two royal correspondence handbooks (one Persian, one Ottoman Turkish); four works of a religious nature, including
two Koran fragments and a brilliantly illuminated Koran in a Qajar lacquered binding; four works of history, including manuscript
versions of unedited texts; and single volumes of lexicography, logic, and philosophy. Of particular scholarly interest is
a version of the ninth section of Kemalpaşazade's Histories of the Ottoman House (
Al-daftar al-tāsỉ min al-dafātir al-marsūma bi al-Sulaymāniyya), and
Muἱn al-Dīn Yazdī's Humāyūn nāma, yā,
Mavāhib-i ilāhī (
Book of Humāyūn, or,
Divine gifts). The collection includes numerous fine examples of Nastẚ līq script, one striking example of Divani calligraphy, and many
beautiful leaves demonstrating ornate Qajar illumination, illustration, and decoration techniques. Artifacts include embroidered
purses and a leather book bag.
Arranged in the following series:
- Manuscripts
- Scrolls
- Book covers and artifacts
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.
Manuscripts--Arab countries.
- Minasian Collection of Near Eastern Manuscripts (Collection 1147) . Available in the Department of Special Collections, UCLA.
- Qayani Collection of Arabic and Persian Manuscripts (Collection 1053) . Available in the Department of Special Collections, UCLA.
- Wellcome Collection of Near Eastern Manuscripts (Collection 1148) . Available in the Department of Special Collections, UCLA.