Overview

The Arcadian Library is unique in Europe. The 10,000 or so volumes which it owns provide a complete picture of the encounter between two cultures and show how the civilization of the Arab and Islamic worlds was appreciated in the Christian West from the earliest times to the present day. The purpose of this heavily-illustrated survey is to provide an idea of the variety of works, documents, and images which the library holds in different domains. Travel writings prevail, a reflection of the impressions made on Europeans by the vast region centred on Arabia and the Levant and stretching from the Maghreb to South and Central Asia, and of the discoveries they made and the effect of their findings on Western knowledge and sensibility. The section on travellers also includes some of the rarer items in the library - unique manuscripts and maps, colour-plate books, and unpublished letters from figures such as Richard Burton, T.E. Lawrence, and Gertrude Bell. In addition to travel there is a large collection of Turcica, with its rare pamphlets and illustrations; a section on Arab science and medicine which contains priceless incunables of translations of Arabic texts; an important selection of Quran translations and material on Eastern Christianity; documents both published and unpublished on the Arabs in Spain and the influence of the tradition they established on early modern Spain and the rest of Europe; numerous products of oriental scholarship and, finally, works of oriental literature which include, besides translations from Turkish and Persian, unpublished manuscripts, and splendidly illustrated copies of The Arabian Nights. Over 200 illustrations of some of the finest items in the library, including four 8-page fold-outs, complement the text. The bibliography, running to almost 2000 entries, gives an overview of some of the most important items in the library.

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9780199609635

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Reviews

Impressive...it is good to have this record of a great private collection, along with illustrations of superb quality. Farzaneh Pirouz, The Art Newspaper

...lavish study of the Arcadian Library ... As readers discover the knowledge assembled in the collection, it can start to flow and spread through our consciousness, altering many received ideas about the relations between East and West. Marina Warner, Times Literary Supplement It is difficult to convey how unusually beautiful the books in the Arcadian Library series are, how they reproduce and communicate a neglected history of contact in numerous spheres of activity, and how they testify to the collection's commitment to the tradition of book-making as a historical art ... Marina Warner, Times Literary Supplement Impressive...it is good to have this record of a great private collection, along with illustrations of superb quality. Farzaneh Pirouz, The Art Newspaper

Author Information

Alastair Hamilton, former Louise Thijssen-Schoute Professor of the History of Ideas at Leiden University and Professor emeritus of the History of the Radical Reformation at the University of Amsterdam, is the Arcadian Visiting Research Professor at the School of Advanced Study, London University, Warburg Institute. He is a Corresponding Fellow of the British Academy.

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