Arabic language manuscripts: patterns of ownership and use

This 2024 National Trust-British Library fellowship investigates the provenance of Arabic manuscripts in six collections across both organisations. The Trust had identified three properties of interest – Kingston Lacy, Belton House and Calke Abbey – and I was encouraged to select material to survey at the British Library. Being an early modernist, I focused on the Arabic content of three named collections representing early English libraries: Cotton, Arundel and Harley. Through its survey of over 130 manuscripts, the project sheds light on the provenance of individual items, while also identifying threads that run through six different collections held by two institutions, over a period of three centuries.