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FOREWORD
The idea of publishing some kind of catalogue
of Arabic manuscripts in S.O.A.S. Library is not new.
It was first conceived in 1939 when Prof. R.L.
Turner was Director and Librarian, and Dr. A.J.
Arberry (then Assistant Librarian at the India Office)
prepared a handlist of both Arabic and Persian
manuscripts, and went some way in correcting copy
for the press. However, a number of difficulties
seem to have arisen, not least because of the outbreak
of war and the actual printing of the text being
assigned to Beirut. The project was abandoned
in 1950. It is, therefore, particularly pleasing for
me that I was able to revive the idea and to make
arrangements for a complete catalogue of the Arabic
manuscripts with full bibliographical details and
appropriate indexes. Although the number of manuscripts
has doubled since the earlier attempt, the work has
come to fruition in little more than six months.
Credit for this accomplishment must go, of couse,
to the compiler of the catalogue, Adam Gacek, who
first came to the Library in January 1978 to prepare
a catalogue of the rich collection of Arabic
manuscripts belonging to the King Faisal Philanthropic
Foundation. This task, which took some two and three-
quarter years and to which he brought considerable
expertise and devotion, was completed in Autumn 1980.
He then accepted a further commission to undertake
the cataloguing for publication of the School's own
Arabic manuscripts, and the results of his labours
are contained in this volume. The manuscripts embrace
a whole range of subject matter, as can be seen from
the subect index, and some of them are rare or unique.
The illustrations have been carefully chosen to reveal
noteworthy examples of calligraphy, embellishment,
and binding. It is hoped that the catalogue will be
of value to scholars not only within the University
of London, but throughout the world.
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