Taught by the Pen: The World of Islamic Manuscripts

Taught by the Pen: The World of Islamic Manuscripts celebrates Islamic civilization and its interconnected artistic, religious and scholarly traditions. Through 150 items from the ninth to the 19th centuries, visitors are invited to engage with the intellectual and esthetic values and practices of the many peoples and communities encompassed by Islamic civilization. The exhibition sheds light on how these manuscripts—and the ideas they contain—were transmitted and disseminated. Gallery guests will encounter diverse books, from illuminated Qur’ans, calligraphy albums and illustrated epics and chronicles to well-thumbed prayer books, poetry collections, detailed maps, learned science and mathematics volumes and more. The papers, inks and bindings that transmit these ideas and genres reveal a continuity of artistic traditions and innovations in works from the Middle East to North Africa, Europe, Central Asia, South and Southeast Asia and North America. Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, New Haven, US, through August 10.