A civilized museum of books, manuscripts and rare collectibles
The Mohammed bin Rashid Library is sailing its visitors on a unique journey between worlds and human civilizations through the "Library Treasures"
The Library's Relics Gallery includes the first editions of travel books to Arabia and books describing the Middle East.
archival
picture
The Mohammed bin Rashid Library takes visitors on a unique journey between different worlds and human civilizations through the Library’s Relics Gallery, which represents a cultural and civilized museum through its unique collection of rare and ancient books and manuscripts, some of which date back to the 13th century AD.
The Library's relics exhibition includes the first editions of travel books to Arabia and books describing the Middle East, a valuable collection of European and Ottoman maps of Arabia from the 15th to the 19th centuries, including a gilded and colored Ptolemaic map of Arabia printed in 1482, in addition to a collection of A variety of hand-picked atlases, including a rare star atlas, a sea atlas, and an atlas of horses and falcons.
Among the rare collections of documents and volumes is Mayor's Atlas "The Composite" Amsterdam-Netherlands Edition 1680-1686, by Friedrich de Wit, in which he collected many maps during the Dutch Golden Age, when artistic creativity, scientific research and exploration flourished. An atlas of land and sea together.
The atlas is the latest version of Joan Blaeu's atlas.
The first edition of Blaeu's "Mayor's Atlas", published in 1662, is the greatest achievement of the famous Dutch cartographer Johannes Blaeu, in the 17th century.
The 11th atlas contains 593 gold-coloured single engraved maps and plates.
Experts consider the Mayor Atlas to be one of the greatest and most remarkable atlases ever produced, in terms of typographical standard, engraving and binding quality, which were of a high quality compared to this time.
Also, in the 17th century, the Dutch Republic adopted the atlas as an official gift to kings and often in other diplomatic contacts.
The "Library Relics" includes the complete works of William Shakespeare, whose plays, such as Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet and Othello, are still shown from time to time around the world.
The London edition of 1632 is the first edition of the revised edition of Shakespeare's works and contains 36 of his plays.
The Library’s relics exhibition includes the first original edition of the volumes “Description of Egypt” issued by the Egyptian Committee for Science and Arts, an encyclopedic record of Egyptian antiquities and Egyptian history in the 18th century, which was printed in the years 1809-1828, and was written and compiled during the French campaign against Egypt for the French leader. Napoleon Bonaparte.
The volumes contain many drawings depicting Egypt, ancient and modern, in addition to reports on various topics such as language, agriculture, music and natural history. Exceptional, designed in mahogany in a style inspired by the work of the famous Parisian cabinetmaker Charles Morell.
The volumes describing Egypt are an encyclopedic record of Egyptian antiquities, natural history, and the state in the 18th century;
Where this work was researched and produced during the French military campaign against Egypt between 1798-1801, and the encyclopedia was produced by a team of hundreds of artists, scientists, sculptors and other specialists accompanying the military mission.
In France, 34 volumes of Description of Egypt were produced, and the first volume appeared in 1809, with production continuing until reaching the last volumes, which appeared in 1829. The encyclopedia is considered one of the greatest achievements of French publishing, and a valuable historical record of Egypt in the 18th century.
The exhibition also includes a Qur’an from the Ottoman era that was printed in 1257 AH / 1841-1842 AD, and it is a large volume of Qur’an written in the revered Naskh script.
The facade of the Qur’an is decorated on both sides with floral drawings surrounding Surat Al-Fatihah and the beginning of Surat Al-Baqara, and around it are multicolored leafy decorations and gilded frames and edges, while the names of the chapters are written in white ink in Ijaz script on a gilded and ornate background.
The Qur’an was written in black ink and in the handwriting of Sayyid Ali Al-Naheef, and preserved in its original luxurious gilded leather.
The exhibition also includes the Manuscript Lotus Sutra, Chapter 23, “Previous Works of the King of Medicine Bodasaf” Kyoto 1636. This manuscript, written in gold ink on indigo-dyed paper and decorated with floral motifs in gold and silver, contains Chapter 23 of the Lotus Sutra.
This was part of a set of 28 scrolls commissioned by Japanese Emperor Go Mizuno (1611-1629), or his daughter Empress Micho (1629-1643), to commemorate the 21st anniversary of the death of the shogun Tokugawa Ie-yasu (died 1616).
The scroll bears the emblem of the Tokugawa family, which ruled Japan and held the shogunate title between 1603 and 1867, and the Lotus Sutra was first presented to Toshogu Shrine in Nikko in 1636, where I-Yasu was honored.
In the middle of the museum is a gold case set with emeralds, sapphires, and diamonds measuring 30.6 cm x 11.7 cm, from the Deccan Sultanate in central India, late AH 10th / AD 16th century, which was designed to be fastened to the waist scarf.
Pliers of this kind had a symbolic significance used in the distribution of ranks, and were usually given to leading court officials, especially ministers.
Its structure is made of gold inlaid with precious stones, including diamonds, sapphires and emeralds. As for the inkwell, it is an artistic masterpiece characterized by a ribbed dome in the shape of a lotus bud, whose design was inspired by the architecture of the Deccan Sultanate, while the underside of the inkwell was decorated with a sacred bird known as “the whisper”, which is a bird. Mythical watermark representing wisdom and the supreme spirit, at the end of which the inkwell is connected to two ribbed pen holders with openable ends.
9 major libraries
The Mohammed bin Rashid Library is divided into nine main libraries, next to vital facilities, theaters and various sectors. It contains one of the cultural and human wonders, which is the Library Treasures exhibition, or what is known as the “Library Relics.” Some of them date back to the 13th century AD.
The library aims to stimulate the passion for knowledge among all individuals, especially the youth category, and to preserve Arab literature, culture and heritage, by supporting and encouraging reading, research, creativity and entrepreneurship, through free access to a distinguished collection of books and other knowledge materials, in addition to providing high-quality information services and launching events Distinctive cultural.
• Volumes Description of Egypt, an encyclopedic record of Egyptian antiquities, natural history, and the state in the 18th century.
• “Library Relics” includes the complete works of William Shakespeare.
Follow our latest local and sports news and the latest political and economic developments via Google news