Islamic manuscripts & rare books

The Islamic manuscripts at McGill are in Arabic, Persian, Ottoman Turkish and a few other languages:

• the Arabic manuscripts collection includes 280 codices covering the traditional Islamic disciplines (Qur'ans and Qur'anic exegesis, Islamic Law, Philosophy, Theology (Kalam), Natural History, Medicine, Mathematics, etc.) and a collection of over 200 pieces of Arabic calligraphy. Full list available here: Blacker-Wood Rare Collection, RBD Collection (i.e. Rare Books & Special Collections), Islamic Studies Collection (i.e. Islamic Studies Library), and Osler Library Collection.
• the Persian manuscripts collection is made of 334 codices embracing all aspects of the Islamic culture (Qur'anic exegesis, Islamic Law, Philosophy, Theology (Kalam), History, Literature and Sciences) as well as 81 fragments many containing miniature paintings: Blacker-Wood Rare Collection, RBD Collection, Islamic Studies Collection, and Osler Library Collection.
• the Turkish manuscripts collection includes 35 codices covering a wide variety of disciplines such as Sufism, Ethics, Islamic Law, Poetry, Medicine, etc.
• A few Malay, Urdu and Hindustani manuscripts complete the McGill collection.

Islamic manuscripts are preserved in the Rare Books and Special Collections library located on the 4th floor of the McLennan building.

The Islamic rare books collection at McGill include a number of collections in various Islamic and European languages:

• the Islamic lithographs Collection is made of over 700 titles of which 380 in Arabic, 342 in Persian, 36 in Ottoman Turkish and the rest in Urdu, French and Pushto covering a wide range of literary and scientific topics
• the Urdu rare books Collection includes more than 900 titles, among which approximately 240 lithographs, embracing all aspects of the South-Asian Islamic culture
• the Ibrahim Müteferrika Incunabula collection includes 13 volumes published in Istanbul between 1729 and 1742 covering non-religious disciplines, primarily History and Geography.
• the European early imprints Collection includes approximately 1,900 volumes in English, French, German, Dutch, Spanish, Russian, etc.

Islamic rare books can be consulted in the Rare Books and Special Collections library located on the 4th floor of the McLennan building.