The Manuscript Studies subject guide will assits you to gather some information which is hopefully meet with your expectations. You can explore all of the sources for:
  • Easily finding book, ebooks and other type of resources,
  • Browse relevant database,
  • Connecting with relevant websites, and
  • Guiding your reference properly and avoiding plagiarism.
You can easily browse through the printed resources of the IRCICA library using the classification numbers below.
- 011 - 016.34965
- 745.6709561

For effective searching, the filters on the left side of the results displayed on the screen (material type, year, subject, language, etc.) should be used.

Although it is undeniable that Manuscripts overlap with other topics are on different shelves, you can explore in IRCICA Library and Archive Catalog.
Keyword Search
The following are keywords and subject terms which may assist in facilitating searches related to "Manuscripts Studies": 
  • Calligraphy
  • Codicology
  • Handwritten
  • Historical Documents
  • Illumination
  • Islamic Manuscripts
  • Manuscripts
  • Palaeography 
  • Palm-Leaf
  • Papyrus
  • Parchment
  • Rare Books
  • Special Collections
Book Collection in Arabic Script of the National Centre for Manuscripts and Rare Books
Thought by the Pen - The World of Islamic Manuscript
PEPAOSAN: Reciting Islamic Texts Written on Palm-leaf Manuscript
Yazma Eserler Uygulama ve Araştırma Merkezi ve Türkiye'de Yazma Eserler Çalışmaları
Persian Manuscripts in India: Collector, Collection and The Future
Audio Resources
Visual Resources
Grey Literature
Some grey literature from  the IRCICA Library collection:
Books
Some selected books from the Library collection:
By Edward Granville Browne (1906)
By Abbas Daneshvari (1986)
By Adolf Grohmann (1966)
By Hasan Duman (1997)
By British Museum (1906)
Reference Books
Some selected reference books from the Library collection:
By Paul Shaner Dunkin (1973)
By Orhan Sakin (2014)
By Süleyman Mollaibrahimoğlu (2007)
By Günay Kut (1984)
By Mine Esiner Özen (1985)
Selected eBooks
Open access books from the IRCICA Library: Some other ebooks from other resources:
Open Access eBooks
In addition to the existing collections, you can also access various collections through the following links that may be useful to expand your knowledge:
Journals
Some of the journals that are related to the manuscript studies are listed below:
Articles
Some articles from the IRCICA Journal and Newsletter: 
Open Access Journal Repositories

IRCICA has open access journal which focuses on multidisciplinary peer-reviewed journal of IRCICA that publishes articles in English and Arabic on all aspects of Islamic civilisation-from cultural history, arts and sciences to literature, traditional crafts and archaeology-with the aim of preserving its tangible and intangible heritage and supporting the research interests of interdisciplinary researchers in diverse world regions.
Theses & Dissertations
Some theses from the IRCICA Library collection:
Databases of Theses & Dissertations
The appendix below contains a list of websites that are available for theses and dissertations research. Please note that some of them are fully accessible and others partially accessible:
eManuscripts
There are number of catalogs that provide open access to online manuscripts:
  • American University of Beirut has around 1,800 manuscripts comes from the Syrian Society, Nawfal Nawfal and ‘Īsá Iskandar al-Ma'luf.
  • Cite Numerique de la Mediterranee, there are 31 manuscripts in this collection, most of which have theological themes.
  • Daiber Collection, the Daiber Collection, now digitised by the University of Tokyo, offers a wide range of Islamic manuscripts from various disciplines, providing valuable insights into the richness and diversity of Islamic culture and scholarship.
  • Edinbrugh University consists of over 700 manuscripts included the most iconic items are fragments of the Qur'an and a scroll of the Hindu Mahābhārata.
  • Endagered Arcives Programme by British Library has digitised over 15 million images and 35,000 sound recordings from more than 500 projects in 90 countries, which are now freely accessed.
  • Europeana, provides cultural heritage collection included manuscripts for enthusiasts, professionals, teachers, and researchers. 
  • Gallica,  is a digital library platform that offers free and open access to several million digitised documents from all periods and all media on topics such as literature, law, economics and politics, geography and cartography, etc. There is additional portal that also useful the BnF Archives et Manuscrits catalogue.
  • Handschriftportal, the manuscript portal has become the main online platform for book manuscripts from the Middle Ages and modern times in German collections, documenting manuscripts, fragments and other manuscript remains digitally complete with basic data, indexes and digital copies when available. 
  • HathiTrust, has 1,042 open access manuscript by Michigan University.
  • The International Dunhuang Programme (IDP) is an online platform that provides open access to images, information and learning resources on manuscripts, prints and artefacts from Eastern Silk Road sites, currently linking the collections of more than 35 global partner institutions - including libraries, museums and research institutions -.
  • Islamic Heritage Project
  • Islamic Medical Manuscripts offers insights into Islamic medicine and science during the Middle Ages and their significant influence on European history. For advanced scholars, it provides a catalogue raisonné—complete with images—of approximately 300 Persian and Arabic manuscripts from the National Library of Medicine, most of which focus on medieval medical and scientific knowledge intended for learned physicians and scholars.
  • The Islamic World Manuscripts at Princeton University Library is the largest collection of its kind in North America, containing Arabic, Persian and Ottoman Turkish manuscripts collected since the early 20th century by figures such as Robert Garrett and further developed by leading curators.
  • KHASTARA - Kazanah Pustaka Nusantara by National Library of Indonesia, is a portal that allows users to explore the intellectual heritage of Indonesia's past through digital archives, manuscripts. The extensive collection includes 27,600 manuscripts.
  • Leiden University Library contains 4,260 manuscript collections which is open access, most of the manuscripts are in Arabic and Latin, relating to reading culture in the Middle Ages.
  • Library of Congress collected more than 1,600  available sources related to Islamic Manuscripts especially there is the Islamic Manuscripts of Mali.
  • Malek National Library and Museum Institutions
    Currently, the library consists of 17,707 manuscripts, most of which come from the Haji Hossein Agha Malek Waqf Collection.
  • Makthtota is a system that one of the most prominent Arabic manuscript libraries maintained by King Saud University, by enhancing its accessibility, search capabilities, and integration with modern digital tools to support research and preservation efforts.
  • Manuscript Islamica
  • Mingana-Collection by Birmingham Univeristy has 1378 collections related to islam.
  • Modern Egypt is a project memory holds culturally and historically valuable materials relating to contemporary Egyptian history - from the reign of Muhammad Ali in 1805 to that of President Sadat in 1981 - collected and digitised from the private collections of prominent Egyptian politicians and writers, various institutions, and the Bibliotheca Alexandrina archives.
  • München, Staatsbibliothek, arabische Handschriften has 172,054 collection which part of them related to islamic history and others.
  • The Muhammad Fuzuli Manuscript Institute Electronic Database of ANAS has two main structures: first, Massive, which is an electronic catalogue of 4,427 images of lithographic books and ancient prints in Turkish, Arabic, Persian, and Western languages. Second, a catalogue that includes a scientometric database and manuscript studies, presenting a summary of scientific activities and a bibliography of 7,809 works by researchers from 1950 to 2023.
  • National Library and Archive UAE, holds 105 rare books and a collection of 875 works relating to Napoleon. The library is dedicated to collecting valuable historical material, especially relating to the United Arab Emirates and, more broadly, the Arabian Gulf states.
  • Oriental Manuscript Database (OMAR) was developed at the University of Freiburg together with the Information Technology Centre of the University of Tübingen, containing about 2,500 Arabic manuscripts from Mauritania (about 134,000 images) supplemented by bibliographic metadata. Importantly, the images come from microfilms taken between 1978 and 1997 by Ulrich Rebstock, Rainer Oßwald and Tobias Mayer, with the original manuscripts deposited at IMRS, Nouakchott, Mauritania.
  • SOAS University of London, the collection consists of 369 items in 349 titles, the majority of which are in English and the total of 96 items are from Djam Fereydun (1914 - ) and mostly relate to Asia.
e-Manuscript Portals
Here are some portals that also provide open access to manuscripts, but require permission from the owner or relevant institution:
  • The Calames, an online catalog describing archives and manuscripts held by universities, libraries and research institutes in France. The collection includes more than 4,000 manuscripts in Arabic, Turkish, Persian, Hebrew, Indian and other Asian languages. Currently, this collection of Middle Eastern manuscripts is being catalogued and digitised, with 20% already available online and more than 40% recorded.
  • Digital Scriptorium an online national union catalogue contains premodern manuscripts in US collections.
  • Khaldouniya Numerique by 
    Bibliotheque Nationale de Tunisie     has around 40,000 manuscripts encompass including Qur'anic commentaries by Yahya ibn Salam and translations of the Almagest by Ptolemy.
  • Koç University's manuscript collection is in various languages, mainly Turkish and Arabic, while the most recent manuscript is Şerhü'l-Usūli'l-Aşere by İsmail Hakkı Bursalı written in 1969.
  • Princeton Univeristy Library, the library collects 135,662 manuscript with open access about 39,828 and 4,902 physically accesible.
  • Royal Asiatic Society  has around 2,000 manuscripts, which come from all over Asia. and makes some selections of Persian and Malay Manuscripts.
  • Qalamos, the portal provides information and digital copies of about 175,000 manuscripts and prints from Asian and African writing traditions, covering 120,000 physical items in 170 languages and 87 scripts which is managed by Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin. The manuscript display has around 164,000 records available on the portal.

In addition, below is a list that contain several platform that also provide open access to manuscripts, but require to create account before access it:
  • Türkiye Yazma Eserler Kurumu, povide manuscripts database included Turkish and Islamic Arts Museum (TİEM) Manuscript Collection.
  • Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin (UniSZA) has been entrusted by the Malaysian Ministry of Education to carry out the Islamic and Malay World Manuscripts Digitisation Project, as an effort to preserve and digitally access the region's intellectual heritage.
Training Courses & Workshops
Some of the training courses or workshops offered by institutions on the manuscript studies are as follows:
The following are visual resources to support the knowledge of creating and preserving manuscripts:
Events and Fundings
The organizations or institutions that arrange symposiums and conferences in manuscripts area periodically are as listed below:
These are institutions that conduct many projects,funding or fellowship related to manuscripts:
Digital Tools
Other Subject Guides
Here are some external subject guides of the manuscript studies:
Organizations
Azerbaijan National Akademy of Sciences İnstitute of Manuscripts as an educational institutions served programme that focus on the development, management and digitization of manuscripts as well as research centres for students and researchers.

Dreamsea Manuscripts
The Digital Repository of Threatened and Affected Manuscripts in Southeast Asia (DREAMSEA) is a conservation programme for manuscript content in Southeast Asia. The programme is run by PPIM UIN Jakarta and CSMC University of Hamburg, with funding support from Arcadia, a London-based philanthropic organisation. There have been many well-preserved and digitised manuscripts in Southeast Asian countries, predominantly in Indonesia.

Fatih Sultan Mehmet Vakıf Üniversitesi - The University of Fatih Sultan Mehmet Foundation has been dedicated to advancing the study of manuscript-book culture by conducting research. It also organises workshops, training programmes, and related publications as a Center for Applied Research on Manuscripts  (Yazma Eserler Uygulama ve Araştırma Merkezi).

Al-Furqan Islamic Heritage Foundation
Al-Furqan Islamic Heritage Foundation was established to document and preserve the written heritage of Islam through surveying, imaging, cataloguing, editing, studying and publishing Islamic manuscripts. They also have Islamic Manuscript Studies Center departement with several activites such as conferences, symposias, training courses and projects.

The House of Manuscripts
The House of Manuscripts in Sharjah is an important cultural and intellectual centre established under the direction of His Highness the Ruler of Sharjah, which the house focus on spreading cultural awareness, preserving and ensuring the collection of manuscripts, and providing information services for researchers to access and utilize the manuscript collection.

The Institute of Arabic Manuscripts
The Arabic Manuscripts Institute (Arap Elyazmaları Enstitüsü) was established to preserve Arabic manuscript heritage through indexation, digitisation, preservation and scientific research. The institute also organises exhibitions, seminars and global cooperation to raise awareness of the importance of Arabic manuscripts to different generations and cultures.

Institute of Oriental Manuscript
The Institute of Oriental Manuscripts (IOM) maintains an archive of orientalists and muslim manuscripts. The highlights are the Arabic Collection (Dr A. Khalidov) and the Tibetan Collection (Dr A. Zorin).

International Dunhuang Programme
The institute's most historically impressive early 20th century collection is Mogao Cave 17 in Dunhuang, China, also known as the ‘Library Cave’ and containing tens of thousands of ancient manuscripts, paintings and artefacts. The collection relates to the story of the Silk Roads and has been compared to the Dead Sea Scrolls for their historical significance.

The Islamic Manuscript Association
The Islamic Manuscript Association is an international not-for-profit organisation established to protect and facilitate access to Islamic manuscript collections, and to support professionals and researchers in related fields. Headquartered at the University of Cambridge, the association advances the best standards in conservation, cataloguing, digitisation, as well as organising training, conferences, and providing grants for the preservation of Islamic manuscripts.

Malesco -  Institute of Arabic Manuscript provided courses and activities which focus on the development, management and digitization of manuscripts as well as research centres for students and researchers. 

Persian Manuscripts Association (PMA)
The Persian Manuscripts Association (PMA) is among the organisations committed to advancing the study of manuscripts from the Persian world through interdisciplinary research. They also host conferences and discussions, publish scholarly works, facilitate access to primary manuscript sources, and support students and early career researchers through awards and grants.

Rare Books and Manuscript Section
Under the American Library Association (ALA), The Rare Books and Manuscript Section (RBMS) is a section of the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL), that aims to represent and support the interests of librarians working with rare books, manuscripts, and other special collections.

SAVAMA-DCI contributes to the protection, safeguarding and promotion of ancient manuscripts as an integral part of Mali's sustainable socio-economic and cultural development.

Türkiye Yazma Eserler Kurumu (YEK) - Turkish Manuscript Institute
To ensure that manuscript libraries, Türkiye collect, preserve and deliver rare printed works and manuscripts with old letters to the future to advance the filelds of art, science and culture. Despite these institutions, there are several national libraries in Türkiye that also have manuscript collections under their supervision.
Libraries
Here the relevant libraries which manage islamic manuscripts as the collections:


Hill Museum and Manuscript Library has microfilm as collection of manuscripts from various language and cultural traditions, including Western European, Eastern Christian, Islamic, Buddhist & Hindu, as well as Maltese.

The Khalidi Library, their own collection comprises a total of 1,263 manuscripts in various languages, including 1,209 Arabic manuscripts that include around 2,000 titles in the form of collections (majâmî'), as well as 18 Persian and 36 Ottoman Turkish manuscripts.

Guide Search
IRCICA Publications
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IRCICA Publications
First International Manuscript Symposium


This program will be held on December 10-12, 2025.