“This collection is … user-friendly … and accessible … All facsimiles are of outstanding quality and visual appeal. Browsing through the Arcadian Library is an aesthetic pleasure. This new quarry will be welcomed by libraries of universities that host large Middle Eastern studies departments, not to mention Middle Eastern institutions that want to foster studies on their cultural heritage.”
Choice
“This is a beautiful and fascinating collection … for scholars and researchers with a deep interest in the influence of the Middle East on the West.” Library Journal
The award-winning Arcadian Library Online is designed to enable easy exploration of the rich holdings of the Arcadian Library.
Access Middle Eastern and European texts from across a millennium, presented within a thematic framework
Access over 90,000 pages of rare primary sources and historically significant material, many of which are made available publicly for the first time through the platform
Collection includes titles in multiple languages to facilitate comparative and intercultural research
View high-resolution, full colour images (400ppi) including bindings, clasps and page edges
View images in full screen, zoom, rotate, single or double page view
Access full catalogue records including available provenance and condition notes
Special features including decoration, marginalia, signature marks and illustrations indexed at a page level to enable quick jumps to pages of interest
Search or browse fully indexed metadata with a dedicated taxonomy enabling filtered search by topic, place, period, people, language or content type
Navigate directly via linked tables of contents to page images at part, title and section heading levels, where available
View metadata and images in either English or Arabic interfaces, with transliterated titles
Search metadata in English or Arabic, with integrated Arabic keyboard
The History of Science and Medicine collection is the foundational catalogue of the Arcadian Library. It was created to bring together one of the world’s most important and unique collections of books and manuscripts relating to this topic in order to showcase the contribution of early Arab and Persian scientists, doctors and thinkers; their translation, reception and influence in Europe and their lasting influence on the development of Western scientific and medical knowledge. It comprises manuscripts, incunabula, early printed books and monographs from the 10th to twentieth centuries, including:
