Manuscripts Center

Established in 2002 as one of the academic centers affiliated to the Bibliotheca Alexandrina, the Manuscripts Center (MSC) witnessed a number of changes in its outlook and structure and partook in seminal achievements that gradually earned it a reputation as being one of the centers of excellence specialized in the study of Arabic and Islamic manuscript heritage all over the region. The Center’s main focus has become twofold: the collection of as much manuscript copies (microfilms, microfiches, digital copies) from all over the world and the study, cataloguing and conservation of all such collections along the mainstay of the Center which is its original collection of Arabic and Islamic manuscripts. The majority of the staff members are either postgraduate or postdoctoral researchers all specializing in one of the various subfields related to Arabic and Islamic studies. The Center’s plans subscribe to a view aiming at producing manuscript editions and academic publications at the highest possible level of rigor and committed scholarship. Holding intensive specialized courses for manuscript specialists and more elementary courses for lay people in order to introduce them to that vast realm of the Arabic manuscript is also amongst the Center’s high priorities.

The Manuscripts Center’s mission statement is thus: the production and dissemination of rigorous knowledge about the heritage of Islam.

For more information about the Manuscripts Center please visit its website.