Collection guides

Arabic collections

Printed books, periodicals and newspapers, manuscripts and a range of other materials

Arabic manuscripts

Our Arabic manuscripts date from the early eighth to the nineteenth century AD

Central Asian Turkic collections

Over 4,500 volumes of printed books, periodicals and newspapers, and more than 200 manuscripts

Christian Middle East collections

Around 4,000 manuscripts and some 14,700 printed books and periodicals

Coptic collections

The British Library holds approximately 1,600 Coptic manuscripts with some early specimens dating from around 300 AD..

Ethiopian collections

The Ethiopian collections include over 600 manuscripts in addition to recent monographs and serials

Hebrew collections

Manuscripts copied over 1,000 years ago to the most recent monographs and serials

India Office Indian miniature paintings

More than 3000 Indian miniatures dating from the 16th to the mid-19th century

India Office Records and Private Papers

Archives of the East India Company and the pre-1947 government of India

India Office Records: Middle East resources

A wealth of information relating to British activities in the Middle East from the 17th to 20th centuries

India Office Records: Resources for Iran

Archival sources for the study of Iran

Judeo-Persian

The British Library has a small but important collection of Judeo-Persian manuscripts and printed books

Persian collections

Over 40,000 volumes of printed books, periodicals and newspapers, more than 11,000 manuscripts, and a range of other mat...

Persian manuscripts

Our Persian manuscripts originate from all over the Persian speaking world

Qur'ans

Copies of the Qur’an from many different geographical regions and periods