Middle East and Islamic Studies

Early Western Korans Online

Early Western Korans Online

Editor: Hartmut Bobzin and August den Hollander

This remarkable collection demonstrates the impact of the holy book of Islam in Europe. Long before printing with movable type became common practice in the Islamic world, Korans had been printed in Arabic type in several European cities. The collection includes Korans and Koran translations, printed between 1537 and 1857, and is of interest to book historians, theologians, philologists, and scholars of Islamic Studies alike.

Subject: Middle East and Islamic Studies
Start: 1537
End: 1857
Place: Europe
Middle Eastern Manuscripts Online 1: Pioneer Orientalists

Middle Eastern Manuscripts Online 1: Pioneer Orientalists

Editor: Joseph Justus Scaliger (d. 1609), and Jacobus Golius (d. 1667)

Leiden University Library has a world famous collection of Middle Eastern Manuscripts. Its core collection is brought together by, among others, the Leiden Orientalists Joseph Justus Scaliger and Jacobus Golius. Included in the Scaliger collection are about a dozen manuscripts which belonged to Franciscus Raphelengius. These collections consist of extremely rare, sometimes unique, manuscripts.

Subject: Middle East and Islamic Studies
Start: 10th century
End: 1370
Place: Middle East
Middle Eastern Manuscripts Online 2: The Ottoman Legacy of Levinus Warner

Middle Eastern Manuscripts Online 2: The Ottoman Legacy of Levinus Warner

This online publication consists of 140 volumes from the Warner Collection, totaling 45,809 pages of Ottoman Turkish, Arabic, and Persian texts. All these manuscripts were acquired by the great scholar Levinus Warner during his stay in Istanbul from 1644 until his death in 1665. The collection also includes several of Warner's diaries with research notes in various languages.

Subject: Middle East and Islamic Studies
Start: 1644
End: 1665
Place: Middle East
Middle Eastern Manuscripts Online 3: Arabic Manuscripts from the Hungarian Academy

Middle Eastern Manuscripts Online 3: Arabic Manuscripts from the Hungarian Academy

This collection consists of 200 manuscripts with just over 300 works. In addition to 5 autographs, the highlights of the collection include: the earliest dated manuscript in the collection (Arab O. 013) a dated copy of a unique arrangement of a rare treatise written by al-Ṣāḥib Tāǧ al-Dīn (d. 707/1307) produced in the year of the author’s death; two rare Mamluk treatises on horsemanship (Arab F.2); and an anonymous compilation (Arab O. 027) about the lives of the outstanding men who lived in Medina in the 12th/18th century.

Subject: Middle East and Islamic Studies
Start: 1300
End: 1900
Place: Middle East
Russian-Ottoman Relations Online, Part 1: The Origins 1600-1800

Russian-Ottoman Relations Online, Part 1: The Origins 1600-1800

Editor: Maurits van den Boogert

Brill presents a unique collection of rare primary sources on a vital and dynamic part of the history of Turkey, Russia, the Middle East and Western Europe. These sources provide detailed insights not only in the military ebb and flow of Russian-Ottoman relations, but also in their effects on European public opinion.

Subject: Middle East and Islamic Studies
Start: 1600
End: 1800
Place: Russia
Russian-Ottoman Relations Online, Part 2: Shifts in the Balance of Power, 1800-1853

Russian-Ottoman Relations Online, Part 2: Shifts in the Balance of Power, 1800-1853

Editor: Maurits van den Boogert

This collection includes discussions of diplomatic treaties like those of Bucharest of 1812 and Adrianople (Edirne) of 1829; the commercial and military issue of access to the Black Sea; eye-witness accounts from war theaters; and plans for, and ideas about, future confrontations. The fact that many different perspectives are represented in this collection makes it extra attractive.

Subject: Middle East and Islamic Studies
Start: 1800
End: 1853
Place: Russia
Russian-Ottoman Relations Online, Part 3: The Crimean War (1853-1856)

Russian-Ottoman Relations Online, Part 3: The Crimean War (1853-1856)

Editor: Maurits van den Boogert

In this collection Russian views are represented by Anatole Demidov (1812-1870), traveler and patron of the arts; the discussion on the peace by former diplomat Tchihatchef; and the accounts of the Russian veteran, Piotr Andreevich Viazemsky (1792-1878). The opinions of two Turkish officers, Rustem Effendi and Seid Bey, and the views of Algerian poet Muhammad b. Ismail (1820-1870) are also included.

Subject: Middle East and Islamic Studies
Start: 1853
End: 1856
Place: Russia
Russian-Ottoman Relations Online, Part 4: The End of the Empires, 1857-1914

Russian-Ottoman Relations Online, Part 4: The End of the Empires, 1857-1914

The material in the final part of this series is again highly diverse. Some works focus on trade, while others portray individual Ottoman or Russian statesmen. Some are personal accounts, whereas others are polemical or propagandistic. The collection is a veritable treasure trove of original sources, personal views, military analyses and national(istic) policy statements, which have never before been published together.

Subject: Middle East and Islamic Studies
Start: 1857
End: 1914
Place: Russia
Western Travellers in the Islamic World Online

Western Travellers in the Islamic World Online

Editor: Maurits van den Boogert

Accounts of travel are a popular and accessible source for research on historical relations between “East” and “West” and are attractive for specialists and non-specialists alike. In the pre-modern period a large number of such accounts were published all over Europe. Predominantly covering the Ottoman Empire, the collection also stretches into Ethiopia, Central Asia, Afghanistan, North Africa, and of course Iran.

Subject: Middle East and Islamic Studies
Start: 1520
End: 1907
Place: Middle East, Africa