Masterpieces of the Non-Western Book

Select images from some of the Bodleian's most valuable and fragile manuscripts from many cultures of the Near East and Asia.

The Bodleian's Middle Eastern, Islamic and South Asian collections are particularly rich in fine illustrated and illuminated manuscripts. They include many examples of Arabic and Persian manuscript ornamentation, with illuminated Qur’ans, scientific and technical Arabic manuscripts, celebrated illustrated Mamluk literary manuscripts, geographical works with maps, albums of paintings assembled during the time of the Mughal Empire, and many fine manuscripts representing successive styles of the long tradition of Persian miniature painting from the 14th to the 19th centuries.

Digitized items representing these traditions were brought together in the mid-2000s under the umbrella "Masterpieces of the Non-Western Book" for a precursor site to Digital Bodleian.