Exhibit Collection of Near Eastern Manuscripts, 1492-1848

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Summary

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.
Extent:
2.5 Linear Feet (5 boxes)
Language:
Persian , Turkish, Ottoman (1500-1928) , Arabic , Armenian .
Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Exhibit Collection of Near Eastern Manuscripts (Collection 1656). UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, University of California, Los Angeles.

Background

Scope and content:

The collection consists of illustrated and illuminated manuscripts from the ?afawid, 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 Kemalpasazade's Histories of the Ottoman House (Al-daftar al-tas? min al-dafatir al-marsuma bi al-Sulaymaniyya), and Mu?n al-Din Yazdi's Humayun nama, ya, Mavahib-i ilahi (Book of Humayun, or, Divine gifts). The collection includes numerous fine examples of Nast? liq 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.

Acquisition information:
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).
Processing information:

Processed by Ali Anooshahr, with assistance from Laurel McPhee, Fall 2004, in the Center For Primary Research and Training (CFPRT).

Collections are processed to a variety of levels depending on the work necessary to make them usable, their perceived user interest and research value, availability of staff and resources, and competing priorities. Library Special Collections provides a standard level of preservation and access for all collections and, when time and resources permit, conducts more intensive processing. These materials have been arranged and described according to national and local standards and best practices.

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Arrangement:

Arranged in the following series:

  1. Manuscripts
  2. Scrolls
  3. Book covers and artifacts

Physical location:
Portions of the collection stored off-site. Advance notice is required for access to the collection. All requests to access special collections materials must be made in advance using the request button located on this page.
Boxes 1-4 stored off-site at SRLF; box 5 in YRL Special Collections stacks.
Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Access and use

Restrictions:

Open for research. All requests to access special collections materials must be made in advance using the request button located on this page.

Terms of access:

Property rights to the objects belong to UCLA Library Special Collections. All other 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.

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Exhibit Collection of Near Eastern Manuscripts (Collection 1656). UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, University of California, Los Angeles.

Location of this collection:
A1713 Charles E. Young Research Library
Box 951575
Los Angeles, CA 90095-1575, US
Contact:
(310) 825-4988
AskLSC@library.ucla.edu
Website