The University of Hamburg’s Centre for the Study of Manuscript Cultures and Islamic Painted Page are happy to announce the launch of a new online facility, specifically to assist Qur’an manuscript scholars and researchers.

The database at www.islamicpaintedpage.com now has a new “Qur’an Details” search page, which allows scholars to search among 4,700 detailed entries for historically interesting Qur’an pages, spanning 110 collections from all over the world, and representing all eras and all places of production. Using this facility, scholars can make specialist searches for terms including

• Qur’an page description (type of illumination, decoration or binding),
• Qur’an type (fragment, Juz etc.),
• Qur’an Sura reference,
• Script (kufic, naskh, etc.),
• Number of lines per page,
• Page size (height and width),
• Qur’an name (e.g. Oljaytu’s Baghdad Qurʼan), and
• Calligrapher name.

This is in addition to all the standard search parameters such as date and place of production, holding collection, accession number and folio, and full publication details. The data covers items published online as well as in print and includes bindings. Search results include images for about 20% of the entries.

Meanwhile the website’s existing “Main search” page remains unchanged and now offers access to all 48,000 entries in the site’s overall database, which covers published Islamic manuscript miniatures, illuminations, bindings and other painted works, as well as the Qur’an entries, from over 300 collections worldwide. At present the site is able to display images for about 50% of the overall database, and supportive item-specific links are also provided to VIAF, WORLDCAT and FIHRIST.

The Centre for the Study of Manuscript Cultures aims to enable the continued development of the Islamic Painted Page database, and the site is hosted and supported by the University of Hamburg. We hope that the new facility will assist Qur’an scholars and their work.

Source: www.islamicpaintedpage.com