(The following is a post by Marieta Harper, Area Specialist, African Section, African and Middle Eastern Division.) For almost a millennium, one of the world’s oldest manuscript collections has survived despite the vagaries of the weather, inadequate storage, termites, fire, theft, and wars. These are the manuscript collections of Timbuktu (a city on the edge …
(The following is a post by Susan Meinheit, Reference Specialist for Tibet, Asian Division) A very attractive task it is to pursue the gradual growth of the Kanjur and Tanjur through the course of many centuries, and to establish the chronology of the translations. (Berthold Laufer, “Notices of Books,” Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, …
(The following is a post by Muhannad Salhi, Arab World Specialist, African and Middle Eastern Division.) While famed for its splendid illuminated illustrations of Islamic holy sites including Mecca, Medina, the Ka’bah and the Haram al-Sharif (Noble Sanctuary), the uniqueness and significance of Muhammad ibn Sulayman al-Jazuli’s “Dalā‘il al-Khayrāt wa-Shawāriq al-Anwār fī Dhikr al-Ṣalāt ‘alà …
(The following is a post by Kenneth Nyirady, Reference Specialist for Hungary, in the Library’s European Division.) The Library of Congress possesses more than 1,500 editions of the Bible in over 150 languages. The most famous item in this collection is the 15th-century Gutenberg Bible, on permanent display in the Library’s Great Hall. Also on …
