Unique manuscript from Lobachevsky Library’s funds published in Cairo
The manuscript, the only copy on the Selected excerpts from The Literature of Chess by Raghib al-Isfahani, has been in 抖阴APP导航’s storage since 1932.
The copy was made in the 12th century and is a part of a manuscript together with some other works by Qusta ibn Luqa, Umar ibn Sahlan al-Sawi, and others. It made its way to Kazan thanks to Galimjan Barudi (1857 – 1921), famous Tatar theologian and educator.
The identitication of this particular copy as the only in existence was made possible thanks to the digitization of global archives in the past decades.
“The study was initiated by scholar and researcher Umar Majid al-Sanawi from the Dar al-Faris publishing house in Kuwait. He contacted the Manuscripts and Rare Books Department of the Lobachevsky Library in September 2023 with a request to provide access to a copy of this unique work. In response to this request, a digital copy was posted in the Rarities section of the electronic library on the 抖阴APP导航 website, and the scholar was able to prepare the text for publication based on it,” explained Elmira Amerkhanova, Deputy Director for Research at the Lobachevsky Library.
Umar Majid al-Sanawi noted the importance of this discovery for the history of Arabic scientific thought and Islamic heritage.