Collection items

17th-century depiction of the Holy Shrine of Mecca

Illumination Created date: 1500–1699

The Haram at Mecca with the Kaʻbah in the centre, from a manuscript of Futūḥ al-Ḥaramayn, a poetical description of the...

A Sufi biographical dictionary, the Majalis al-'us...

Manuscript Created date: 16th century

A deluxe copy of the Majālis al-ʻushshāq (‘Assemblies of lovers’), a collection of seventy-six biographies of Sufi saint...

A village dance

Engraving

This fine print, said to be very rare, is both famous and puzzling. It was made by Jan Saenredam, the father of the pain...

Accusations against Christopher Marlowe by Richard...

Manuscript Created date: 16th century

These notorious manuscripts appear to support the idea of Christopher Marlowe as the wild boy of Elizabethan literature....

Al-Qazwini’s Wonders of Creation

Manuscript Created date: 16th century

An illustrated copy of the 13th-century writer al-Qazwīnī’s ʻAjāʼib al-makhlūqāt (‘Wonders of creation’) produced in the...

Anthology of Greek lyric poetry

Manuscript Created date: 2nd half of the 16th century

The 15th and 16th centuries saw an outburst of scholarly interest in Greek literature in western Europe. The arrival of...

Athenaeus, Deipnosophistae

Manuscript Created date: 1st quarter of the 16th century

The 3rd-century CE author Athenaeus is known today for his long work, the Deipnosophistae (‘Dinner Sophists’). This work...

Byzantine bookbinding

Detached binding Created date: 15th century-17th century

The original binding of Additional 28821, a volume containing Byzantine musical texts, is now kept separately, having de...

Catena on the Octateuch

Manuscript Created date: 2nd quarter of the 16th century-3rd quarter of the 16th century

The catena, a biblical commentary that proceeds verse by verse, was a popular interpretative tool in the Byzantine world...

Devi Mahatmya

Manuscript Created date: 16th century

An illustrated palm-leaf manuscript of the Devī Māhātmya, a devotional text in praise of Durgā. Made in Bhaktapur, Nepal...

Drawings of the funeral procession of Elizabeth I

Manuscript, Image, Illustration Created date: 1557–1603

This early 17th-century manuscript contains unique coloured drawings of the funeral procession of Queen Elizabeth I, who...

Etruscan alphabet from inscriptions

Manuscript Created date: 1552-1717

Greek colonists took the alphabet to Italy, where the Etruscans changed it to suit their needs. These 16th-century notes...

Fragments from a Kalophonic Sticherarion

Manuscript Created date: 16th century–17th century

Ongoing developments in Greek music resulted in the appearance of the ‘kalophonic’ (beautiful-sounding) style of chant. ...

Friendship album of Gervasius Fabricius zu Kleshei...

Friendship album, Book, Quarto, Manuscript, Illustration, Image Created date: 1595–1637

These are illustrations from the friendship album of the student Gervasius Fabricius zu Klesheim of Salzburg, and others...

Greek bestiary

Manuscript Created date: 2nd quarter of the 16th century–3rd quarter of the 16th century

The Byzantine poet Manuel Philes (c. 1275–c. 1345) is best known now for his work De Animalium Proprietate (‘On the Natu...