Research Librarian
Primary Sources
Find primary sources for Islamic Art and Architecture in the following collections:
- Islamic Heritage Project, Harvard Library Open CollectionsOnline access to digital copies of over 280 manuscripts, 275 printed texts, and 50 maps, totaling over 156,000 pages. Users can search or browse online materials dating from medieval times to the present and representing many regions, languages, and subjects.
- ArchNetOnline community for architects and scholars with a special focus onthe Islamic world, based at MIT
- World Hertiage Sites: Africa (Aluka)Visual, contextual, and spatial documentation of African heritage sites.
- MetPublications (1964 to present)Full-text access to out-of-print exhibition catalogues, collection catalogues, museum guides, and educational materials from the the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
- Princeton Islamic Manuscripts CollectionIslamic manuscripts, chiefly bound paper codices, located in the Manuscripts Division of the Department of Rare Books and Special Collections, at the Harvey S. Firestone Memorial Library at Princeton.
- British Library digital manuscriptsDigitized manuscripts from Iran and South Asia dating from the 14th – 19th century
- Virtual Manuscript Room - Mingana Collection at the University of BirminghamFacsimiles of Islamic Arabic manuscripts from the Mingana Collection, housed in the University of Birmingham Department of Special Collections
- Bodleian Library, University of Oxford, UKIllustrated copy of al-Sufi’s Book of Images of Fixed Stars
- University of Cambridge, UKMainly Qur’an mss, but note that there’s a copy of the Shahnama and other illustrated manuscripts on page 8
Bayerische Staatsbibliothek (BSB i.e. Bavarian State Library)
Munich Arabic-language manuscripts (including the earliest illustrated copy of Qazwini’s Book of Marvels (Aja’ib al-Makhluqat)
Staatsbibliothek (Berlin State Library):
Berlin Mughal album from early 17th century
Diez Album (album of Timurid, Mongol, and Turkmen drawings)
Princeton University Library:
Heavily illustrated 16th-century copy of the Shahnama produced in Shiraz
16th-century Divan of Hafiz (includes illustrations)
Illustrated copy of Qazwini’s Book of Marvels (Aja’ib al-Makhluqat)
Tip: What are primary sources?
A primary source is essentially any record or artifact from a given era that provides original documentary evidence of the time—like a snapshot of a given experience, taken by someone who was there. Secondary sources, such as books or articles, often draw heavily from primary sources, such as letters, diaries, or interviews, to make representations or interpretations of a period under study.
A few examples of primary sources include diaries, photographs, letters, government documents, and newspaper and magazine articles (from the period under study).
Want to learn more? Visit the Primary Sources Research Guide.