Research Guides: Middle Eastern Studies: Manuscripts

UCLA Manuscript Collections: Digital Collections, Catalogs, and Finding Aids

UCLA Islamic Manuscript Collections Catalogs

Browse most of our manuscript holdings in these catalogs. The main catalog was composed by Dr. Muhammad Taqi Danishpazhuh in two volumes. When browsing this catalog, make a note of the letter + number code in the margins. The letter denotes the collection, and the number denotes the manuscript number. These will be necessary to request the manuscript from the correct collection.

Persian and Arabic manuscripts at UCLA Special Collections / Muhammad Taqi Danishpazhuh
Two-volume catalog of UCLA collections produced by Danishpazhuh in Persian. You can browse PDFs of Volume 11 (Persian and Arabic Manuscripts) and Volume 12 (Turkish, Urdu, and Multi-Lingual Manuscripts) at this site. Click on "Collection Details" to find the links to the PDFs.
Arabic medical manuscripts at the University of California, Los Angeles / by Nancy Elizabeth Gallagher.
A descriptive list of Arabic manuscripts on medicine and science at the University of California, Los Angeles / by A.Z. Iskandar
Persian medical manuscripts at the University of California, Los Angeles: a descriptive catalogue / Lutz Richter-Bernburg

Finding Aids for UCLA Special Collections at the Online Archive of California (OAC)

These finding aids are necessary for requesting materials from Special Collections. You can use them to find the box number where a manuscript is kept. The letters listed under the links below correspond to Danishpazhuh's key within his catalog.

Online Archive of California (OAC) This link opens in a new window
Finding aids for primary source collections in all UC campuses and other contributing institutions, including libraries, special collections, archives, historical societies, and museums throughout California.

Collection of Arabic Manuscripts, ca. 1600-1899
(A) Collection 895
Collection of Turkish manuscripts, ca. 1600-1900
(B) Collection 896
Collection of Islamic Manuscripts
(C) Collection 897
Tekes collection of Ottoman Persian and Arabic Manuscripts
(D) Collection 898
Collection of Egyptian Manuscripts in Arabic, [dates unknown]:
(F) Collection 955
Minasian Collection of Near Eastern Manuscripts, ca. 1100-1899
(M) Collection 1147
Wellcome Collection of Near Eastern Manuscripts, ca. 1700-1899
(W) Collection 1148
Sami Assaad Aintabi Collection of Arabic Manuscripts
(AI) Collection 833
Richard (Rouhollah) Karubian collection of Arabic and Persian manuscripts, 1510-1930
Noyan Garemani collection of Persian and Arabic manuscripts and books, ca. 1514-1899
Shaykhiyah collection of Arabic and Persian manuscripts, ca. 1683-1924
Rudolf Gelpke collection of Arabic and Persian manuscripts, ca. 1447-1902
Ilmiyah collection of Arabic and Persian manuscripts, ca. 1516-1893
Qayani Collection of Arabic and Persian Manuscripts
Exhibit collection of Near Eastern manuscripts, 1492-1848
Bound Manuscripts Collection, 1977
Maghribi Manuscripts Collection
Gustave E. Von Grunebaum Papers, 1930-1972
Professor of history and founder and director of the Near Eastern Center, UCLA (1957)
Nikki R. Keddie papers LSC.1789
Nikki Keddie is Professor Emeritus in the Department of History. Keddie taught Middle Eastern and Iranian history at UCLA.

UCLA Digital Library Collections

YouTube: Treasures of the UCLA Library: Near Eastern Manuscripts
UCLA Digital Library Collections
The UCLA Library Digital Collections includes rare and unique digital materials developed by the UCLA Library to support education, research, service, and creative expression. This website is the new interface for discovery and engagement of these collections.
Caro Minasian Armenian Manuscripts (UCLA Digital Library)
"Armenian manuscripts, gifted to the UCLA Library in 1968 by Dr. Garo Owen Minasian of Isfahan, Iran. The collection includes manuscripts of ecclesiastical character such as gospels, psalters, menologia, and ritual books, as well as theological and philosophical works, medical treatises, and anthologies of poetry..."
Caro Minasian Collection of Persian and Arabic Manuscripts (UCLA Digital Library)
"The Minasian Collection of Persian and Arabic manuscripts consists of works related to the studies of theologians and scholars in centers of learning in Iran from the 16th through the 19th centuries. The manuscripts, which include both bound collections and single works, chiefly date from the 14th to the 17th centuries, and shed light on the social, religious, and political history of Iran and Shī'īsm..."
Exhibit Collection of Near Eastern Manuscripts (UCLA Digital Library)

Additional UCLA Special Collections

Collection of Middle Eastern Posters, 1990-
"The collection consists of posters from Middle Eastern countries, including Iran, Israel, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. Poster topics are related to ancient civilization, architecture, art, asthma, conflict, culture, disability, environment, equestrianism, family, Kurds, population, public health, recycling, reproductive health, road safety, theater, tourism, waste, and wildlife..."
Jonathan Friedlander Collection of Middle Eastern Americana, 1875-2006
"The American Orientalism collection consists of photographic materials, pulp fiction, men's adventure magazines, comic books, audio and video recordings, advertisements, games, artifacts and objects, books, and sheet music..."

Digital Manuscript Collections Worldwide

Arabic Manuscripts from West Africa
The Melville J. Herskovits Library of African Studies at Northwestern University houses an important collection of Arabic script materials from West Africa. It contains over 5,000 items collected from Africa and donated to the library by several Northwestern professors. Original, hand-written manuscripts make up more than 60 percent of the content, which also includes “market” editions (photocopies of handwritten works that are often sold in African marketplaces), printed editions, and photocopies. Most are in Arabic, though some are in ajami—African languages such as Hausa, Fulfulde, and Wolof written in the Arabic script.
APD Arabic Papyrology Database
"The Arabic Papyrology Database allows you to search Arabic documents on papyrus, parchment and paper from the 7th up the 16th century A.D..."
Avestan Digital Archive
"The Avestan Digital Archive (ADA) seeks to be a digital archive containing all Avestan manuscripts spread all over the world..."
Bayerischen Staatsbibliothek, Muenchen
La Biblioteca Virtual de Patrimonio Bibliográfico
In Spanish
Bibliothèque Nationale de France - Arabic manuscripts
Via Gallica, BNF's digital library
Digitized Arabic Manuscripts at AUB Library
ECHO European Cultural Heritage Online - Islamic Scientific Manuscripts
From Pen to Printing Press: Ten Centuries of Islamic Book Arts at the University of Indiana
"The purpose of the “Explore a Manuscript” section is to offer a detailed visual overview of Islamic manuscripts using a selection of works from Indiana University collections..."
Haddad Manuscript Collection
Part of the Wellcome collection of Arabic manuscripts presently shelved at WMS AR 400 - WMS AR. 487 constitute most of the Arabic medical manuscript collection of Dr Sami Ibrahim Haddād (1890-1957), the well-known Lebanese physician and historian of medicine.
Harvard University Islamic Heritage Project
More than 280 manuscripts from Houghton Library and the Harvard Art Museum/Arthur M. Sackler Museum
Islamic Medical Manuscripts at the National Library of Medicine
King Saud Library, Riyadh
Library of Congress - Islamic Manuscripts from Mali
Mahaja.com
MANUMED Project
"MANUMED is a project for the development of the written and immaterial heritage of the euro-mediterranean area."
Marmara Üniversitesi Nadir Eserler Koleksiyonu
Collection of nearly 7000 digitized books and manuscripts. Membership is required. Click on Uye ol, to become a member.
Minasian Collection of Persian and Arabic Manuscripts
The Caro Minasian Collection of Arabic and Persian manuscripts in the Charles E. Young Research Library Department of Special Collections is one of the most extensive post-classical Islamic manuscript collections in the United States...
Minassian Collection of Qur’anic Manuscripts, Brown University
"This database catalogues the holdings of over 200 Qur’anic manuscript folios dating from the 9th to the 16th centuries housed within the special collections of the Brown University libraries..."

Online Archive of California (OAC) This link opens in a new window
Finding aids for primary source collections in all UC campuses and other contributing institutions, including libraries, special collections, archives, historical societies, and museums throughout California.

Poetry and Prayer: Islamic Manuscripts from the Walters Art Museum
The exhibition Poetry and Prayer: Islamic Manuscripts from the Walters Art Museum coincides with the initiative to catalogue and make high-resolution digital surrogates of all Islamic manuscripts and single pages preserved at the Walters Art Museum, a project generously funded by a Preservation and Access Grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Princeton Digital Library of Islamic Manuscripts
Princeton University Library holds approximately 9,500 Islamic manuscripts in Arabic, Persian, Ottoman Turkish and other languages of the Muslim world written in Arabic script. The manuscripts date from the 9th to the 19th centuries. 200 of these manuscripts are being digitized for the digital library.
The Royal Library, Copenhagen
"Digitized material from the Oriental Collections. The materials have been selected acconding of their rarity, calligraphy, historical value and illustrations..."
Turning the Pages Online, National Library of Medicine
Features the Edwin Smith Surgical Papyrus, al-Qazwini's Wonders of Creation, and others
Universitätsbibliothek Heidelberg
Universitätsbibliothek Leipzig
University of Birmingham Mingana Collection
University of Michigan Library Islamic Manuscripts Collection
The collection has approximately 1,300 manuscripts in Near Eastern languages, Arabic, Persian and Turkish.
University of Oxford, Bodleian Library
Electronic edition of Kitāb Gharāʾib al-funūn wa-mulaḥ al-ʿuyūn, known as the Book of Curiosities
University of Pennsylvania Libraries
Selected manuscripts
University of Tokyo Daiber Collection
"This collection is the corpus of manuscripts mainly focused on Arabic, collected by Dr. Hans Daiber, a professor of Islamic studies in Germany, over many years. Institute of Oriental Culture, University of Tokyo purchased the collection, its first part in 1986-1987 and its second part in 1994..."
University of Utah Marriott Library Arabic Manuscripts
West African Arabic Manuscript Database
Wellcome Arabic Manuscripts
The Wellcome Library, Bibliotheca Alexandrina, and King’s College London, have formed a partnership to create a free searchable online catalogue of 500 Islamic manuscripts in the Wellcome Library.
World Digital Library - Middle East and North African Manuscripts

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Middle Eastern Studies

UCLA Manuscript Collections: Digital Collections, Catalogs, and Finding Aids

Additional UCLA Special Collections

Selected Readings

Digital Manuscript Collections Worldwide

Periodicals