Four Centuries of Arabic Printed Works

Based on A.G. Ellis’ catalogue of the British Library’s collection, Early Arabic Printed Books represents the largest text-searchable archive of pre-20th century Arabic printed books available anywhere online.

This online archive gives scholars unprecedented access to more than 400 years of digitised historic books printed in Arabic script alongside translations into European and Asian languages from the period. Combined, they demonstrate Europe’s enduring fascination with, and assimilation of, knowledge from the Arabic-speaking world with its rich heritage of science, poetry, Islamic texts, and commentaries.

Bringing a Wealth of Benefits to Libraries in the Middle East and Worldwide

This online archive is an essential resource for every library in the Middle East seeking access to pre-eminent heritage collections to advance scholarly research into the region’s remarkable cultural, scientific, and intellectual past for local students, researchers, and communities.

The collection is indispensable for research libraries worldwide seeking to enhance teaching, learning and research programs with 24/7 access to such an extensive collection which includes rare Arabic primary sources.
For scholars, the collection’s value lies in its provenance, breadth and inclusion of both Arabic texts and early European translations of Arabic texts enabling the study of the complex interchange between the Arabic and European world across the centuries.

This collection enriches the study of the Middle East and the Muslim world, generates new paths of enquiry and research, and develops students’ confidence in reading and interpreting primary sources of Arabic language and literature.

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Total Pages: 2.2 million

Total titles: 5,540 books plus 31 periodicals

Date coverage: 15th to 19th century

Languages included:

Arabic*, Dutch*, English*, French*, German*, Greek, Hebrew, Hindi, Italian*, Latin*, Ottoman Turkish, Persian, Spanish*, Syriac and 17 others (* full-text searchable)

Major printing centres:

Beirut, Būlāq in Cairo, Delhi, Istanbul, London, Lucknow, Mumbai, and Paris among many others

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Supporting multiple disciplines and areas of study

Published in parts by subject, Early Arabic Printed Books from the British Library covers an extensive range of topics which bring the wealth and breadth of Arabic culture to scholars worldwide and support inter-disciplinary approaches to teaching, learning and research.

These parts are:

Early Arabic Printed Books from the British Library: Literature, Grammar, Language, Catalogues, and Periodicals

Early Arabic Printed Books from the British Library: Literature, Grammar, Language, Catalogues, and Periodicals is a full-text searchable archive of early Arabic printed books from a range of genres that provide additional background and multiple points of entry into the study of the cultural, intellectual, and social lives of the people of the Middle East.

Early Arabic Printed Books from the British Library: Religion and Law

Early Arabic Printed Books from the British Library: Religion and Law is a full-text searchable archive of early Arabic printed books on Islamic literature, including numerous editions of the Qur'an with translations and commentaries, traditions (hadith), works of the religious life, and Islamic law materials such as fiqh, statutes, and rulings, all of which provide insight and multiple points of entry into the study of the cultural, intellectual, and social lives of the people of the Middle East.

Early Arabic Printed Books from the British Library: Sciences, History, and Geography

Early Arabic Printed Books from the British Library: Sciences, History, and Geography is a full-text searchable archive of early Arabic printed books on medicine and physiology, classical sciences, mathematics, astrology, chemistry, natural history, philosophy, logic and ethics, politics, history and genealogy, biography, travel, geography, and much more. This collection presents the range of Arab learning that influenced the scholarship and scientific development in Europe through the Middle Ages and Early Modern period.

Platform Features & Tools

Optical Character Recognition

Full-text searching across Arabic language texts with newly developed optical character recognition software (OCR).

Arabic-Language User Interface

Meet the research needs of Arabic speakers with a complete and selectable Arabic interface with right-to-left text and navigation.

Subject Indexing

Library of Congress Subject Indexing to facilitate discovery and research of content by subject.

Learn more about the Gale Primary Sources Platform » »

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