“The importance of these prints derives not only from the fact that they are early witnesses to the use of printing in the Middle East, or their textual and artistic content, but also from their rarity.” - Mark Muehlhaeusler, "Eight Arabic Block Prints from the Collection of...
When the name of Western Americana, Rare Books, and University Archives was changed to “Special Collections” in 1971, it reflected a major shift in the holdings. In addition to the growing emphasis of rare books, Special Collections Director, Everett Cooley, was also made responsible of...
"They who sow courtesy reap friendship, and they who plant kindness gather love." -- St Basil the Great Commentaries St. Gregory (325?- & St. Basil (329-379) 9th c. AH/15th c. CE This manuscript, written on polished laid paper, is an Arabic translation from a Greek or Coptic original of...
“It is a contract of sale concluded between parties whose anthroponymy shows that they were exclusively Coptic; it was found in the east of Fayoum, a region which was still largely occupied by Copts in the Fatimid period.” — Naïm Vanthieghem Naïm Vanthieghem took Rare Books...
P. Utah inv. 6o end of ninth century papyrus “J’ai pu y decouvrir une trentaine de documents juridiques arabes inedits de toutes epoques, parmi lesquels quelques beaux specimens de contrat de vente d’esclaves.” (I have discovered thirty legal documents in Arabic…, including some fine specimens of contracts for...
photo by Scott Beadles An ancient piece from the Rare Books Department has been translated and published by BYU professor Lincoln Blumell. Read all about it in today’s BYU News: “BYU professor works with University of Utah library to translate 1700 year-old obituary” “I’ve looked at hundreds of ancient...