Title in Arabic or Hebrew
- المخطوطات العربية
Introduction
- The sub-series “Arabic manuscripts,” which has no further subdivisions, contains documents relating to Arabic (and some Turkish and Persian) manuscripts catalogued by Kahle during his research activity. In the course of his stay in England during the Second World War, Paul Kahle provided a descriptive account of a considerable part of the Arabic, as well as of the Turkish and Persian, manuscripts now held at the Chester Beatty Library in Dublin. The archive preserves handwritten cards in Arabic and English relating to manuscripts that were offered to the Chester Beatty Library indicating proposed prices and effective valuation. These documents, which are undoubtedly the most important, are preserved in a series of black folders containing Kahle’s preliminary and detailed descriptions (in handwritten and/or typed version). Each item consists of the signature of the manuscript, a brief codicological description, an indication of the title/s of the work/s contained and an exhaustive and meticulous outline of the contents. Kahle’s descriptions were typed and later used by Arthur John Arberry to draw up the catalogue printed as «A Hand-List of the Arabic Manuscripts in the Chester Beatty Library »(Dublin 1955-1966, 8 vols.). In addition, the archive contains various preparatory studies collected over time to compile the descriptions of the manuscripts. Kahle extensively studied a number of manuscripts of the Dublin fonds. The sub-series also includes a typewritten copy of the index of the Arabic manuscripts preserved in the Bodleian Library in Oxford, planned to be catalogued by Kahle, together with a few detailed descriptions (typewritten and/or handwritten copies). During the filing of the archive materials of Kahle, a number of manuscripts (ancient and modern) were found that Kahle had acquired and used in the course of his work as a scholar. Particularly important are those relating to the Shadow Play.