Library of Congress Global Gateway: Selections of Arabic, Persian, and Ottoman Calligraphy
The African and Middle Eastern Division of the Library of Congress is pleased to annouce the release of a new Web presentation: " Selections of Arabic, Persian, and Ottoman Calligraphy," now available at:
During the late 1920s, early 1930s, and 1990s the Library of Congress acquired a large collection of Arabic script calligraphy sheets. Almost all of the Library’s calligraphy sheets came by way of Mr. Kirkor Minassian of New York and Paris. The remaining sheets were acquired by the Library's Field Office in Islamabad, Pakistan, with permission from the Pakistani government.
Calligraphy was a skill to be mastered, and it was used to express religious sentiment and many other aspects of personal and cultural life. Calligraphic art developed gradually over the centuries, and has been the subject of numerous studies analyzing its role in the faith, culture, and art of Arabic, Persian, and Turkish speaking lands.
This presentation displays 355 Arabic calligraphy sheets, ranging from the 9th to the 19th centuries. A majority of the calligraphy sheets are written on paper, however a group of Qur’anic fragments from the 9th and 10th centuries are inscribed on parchment.
This collection showcases examples of calligraphic art, including illuminated panels, albums, and poems. In addition to the individual calligraphy sheets, this presentation contains essays on Ottoman and Persian calligraphic styles, an in-depth look at Qur’anic calligraphic fragments, and an essay discussing some of the Library’s notable Arabic script calligraphy sheets and illuminations.
This online presentation of “Selections of Arabic, Persian, and Ottoman Calligraphy” joins other world history collections available on the Library of Congress’ Global Gateway Web site at http://international.loc.gov/intldl/intldlhome.html. This Web site features the extraordinary international collections of the Library of Congress as well as those of its partners from libraries in Brazil, Spain, the Netherlands, France and Russia. This site also makes available such rare items as “The Kraus Collection of Sir Francis Drake,” “The Lewis Carroll Scrapbook” and “Selections from the Naxi Manuscript Collection,” which documents ceremonial writings of the Naxi people of China, who write using the only living pictographic language in the world.
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