Manuscripts of the Islamic World at Princeton University Library

Consisting of about 12,000 volumes (16,000 texts), the Manuscripts of the Islamic World collections at Princeton University Library’s Special Collections department contain items mainly in Arabic, Ottoman Turkish, and Persian but also include manuscripts in Jawi, Syriac, Hebrew, Urdu, and other languages written in the Islamic world. The majority of the collections date from the 17th to the 19th centuries, with some copied as early as the 11th century.

Strengths of the collection include texts related to the naqli (transmitted) sciences, such as tafsir, hadith, fiqh, and Qur'ans, which are religious in nature. Poetry and literature are also well-represented. Though not a major focus, the collections also include texts of the 'aqli (rational) sciences, such as astronomy, medicine, mathematics, grammar, history, and philosophy.

This guide contains information on how to find manuscripts in this collection that are relevant to your research questions and how to access the manuscripts. For additional resources on other Islamic world manuscript collections and how to read manuscripts, see the last two tabs of this guide.

Two-thirds of the Manuscripts of the Islamic World collections were donated by Robert S. Garrett (Princeton class of 1897), who collected this material between 1900-1942. New Series, containing about 5000 texts in 2194 volumes, was formed between 1955 and 1982 under Rudolf Mach, curator of the Near East Collections during a majority of that time (1955-1977). Third Series makes up the smallest group of manuscripts in this collection, with about 400 manuscripts with shelf marks dating from 1987 onward.

For more information on the history of these collections and what they contain, see this guide's Resources on the Collections tab.