The collection includes 107 Islamic manuscript and some printed texts produced during the 16th-19th centuries. Written in Arabic, Persian, and Ottoman dialects, the volumes reflect fine calligraphy, gold leaf, some illumination, and traditional binding techniques. It is a fine collection from which to study the Islamic Manuscript tradition as well as its comparison to that which developed in Western Europe.
The Flora Lamson Hewlett Library received these volumes of primarily manuscript material with the assistance of the Franciscan School of Theology. The volumes include poetry, astronomy, math, hadith, and some Qur'anic Suras. Our brief catalog of transliterated titles and/or subjects includes estimated year of production in both the Islamic and Gregorian calendars.
The Walter and Elise Haas Foundation generously funds research on the Borley collection through the Madrasa-Midrasha program summer institute for the advancement of Hebrew and Arabic language resources at the GTU. The first recipients of this grant have been Zeinab Vessal and Faisal Azar. These publications inaugurate careful study of this important collection. In-depth analysis of individual manuscripts will be published here as Haas Foundation funded scholarship through the program continues.
[Please note: full call number is defined as BP87, the collection number, before each manuscript number, i.e., BP87 MS20.