Treasures of the Library
Treasures of the Library
The Treasures of the Library exhibition is located on the seventh floor; It displays an impressive collection of rare and old books, atlases, and manuscripts, some of which dating back to the 13th century. The collection includes unique copies of the Holy Quran, early print editions of literary classics and Latin translations of scholarly works from the Islamic Golden Age.
Among the rare exhibits is the first edition of Atlas Maior of Blaeu, the crowning achievement of the famous 17th century Dutch cartographer Johannes Blaeu. The atlas contains about 600 individual maps and was published in 1662 in eleven volumes. Experts consider the Maior atlas to be the richest and the most beautiful of all.
The exhibition also includes the first edition of Napoleon's Description de l'Égypte, an encyclopedic record of Egyptian antiquities and Egyptian history in the eighteenth century. It was co-produced by a team of hundreds of artists, scholars, critics, and other professionals during Napoleon Bonaparte's military campaign in Egypt 1798-1801; It was published in 34 volumes. Description de l'Égypte is considered one of the greatest achievements of French publishing, and a valuable historical record of Egypt in the eighteenth century.
The exhibition also features the first editions of the Arab and world cultures, scarce Arabic periodicals from the Arab world and the diaspora, and a fine collection of autographs by world personalities.
The Treasures of the Library exhibition also includes traditional tools for calligraphy, bookbinding, axes, etc.
