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Chester Beatty Library
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<h2 id="galleries">Galleries</h2> <p>The museum's collections are displayed in two galleries: "Sacred Traditions" and "Arts of the Book". Both displays exhibit manuscripts, miniature paintings, prints, drawings, rare books and some decorative arts from the Persian, Islamic, East Asian and Western Collections.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:9" href="#fn:9"><sup>9</sup></a> </p> <h2 id="collections">Collections</h2> <h3>Western Collections</h3> <p>The Western Collection houses many illuminated manuscripts, rare books and Old Master prints and drawings. With biblical texts written in Armenian, Church Slavonic, Coptic, Ge’ez, Greek, Latin and Syriac, the collection's Christian material comes from diverse cultural and geographical backgrounds. The papyrus codices in the Chester Beatty include <a href="/facts/Papyrus_45/7t95mCkb">Papyrus 45</a> and <a href="/facts/Papyrus_46/GPWVBVA4">Papyrus 46</a> among others which are some of the earliest surviving Christian artefacts in the world. In addition, a significant proportion of the rare printed books and prints are also Christian in focus.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:10" href="#fn:10"><sup>10</sup></a> The collection of papyri is one of the most extensive in the world and includes almost the entire corpus of Ancient Egyptian Love Songs. </p> <h3>Islamic Collections</h3> <p>The Islamic Collection is divided between the <a href="/facts/Arabic/A1e66hVV">Arabic</a>, <a href="/facts/Persia/24yukge8">Persian</a>, <a href="/facts/Turkic_peoples/ocd7rpI3">Turkish</a>, <a href="/facts/Qur%27an/39rkStko">Qur'an</a> and Mughal-Era Indian Collections. The Arabic texts include treatises on religion, history, jurisprudence, medicine, geography, mathematics, astronomy and linguistics. Some of the finest miniatures from imperial Mughal albums, called <i><a href="/facts/Muraqqa%27/TdgmQ35v">Muraqqa'</a></i>, are housed in the Chester Beatty Library, with important paintings from the <i>Late Shah Jahan Album</i> and the <i>Minto Album</i>. The albums were the subject of an exhibition and publication by the Islamic curator, Dr Elaine Wright, <i>Muraqqa': Imperial Albums of the Chester Beatty Library</i>. Often on display is the <i>Ibn al-Bawwab</i> Qur'an, copied by one of the greatest medieval Islamic calligraphers. </p> <h3>Persian Collection</h3> <p>The Persian collection contains various miniatures and manuscripts of classical Persian poets such as <a href="/facts/Ferdowsi/5b1He35B">Ferdowsi</a> and <a href="/facts/Nizami_Ganjavi/bMJJm2NC">Nizami</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:11" href="#fn:11"><sup>11</sup></a> </p> <h3>East Asian Collections</h3> <p>The East Asian Collection has one of the most extensive collections of carved snuff bottles, many of which were included in the catalogue, <i>The Chester Beatty Library, Dublin: Chinese Snuff Bottles</i>. It also has Japanese art, including a pair of long picture-scrolls painted in the 17th century by <a href="/facts/Kan%C5%8D_Sansetsu/FI3TPrwn">Kanō Sansetsu</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:12" href="#fn:12"><sup>12</sup></a> </p> <h2 id="collection-highlights">Collection highlights</h2> <p>Source:<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:13" href="#fn:13"><sup>13</sup></a> </p> <h3>Arabic collection</h3> <h3>Armenian collection</h3> <h3>Biblical papyri collection</h3> <h3>Burmese collection</h3> <h3>Chinese collection</h3> <h3>Coptic collection</h3> <h3>Egyptian Papyrus collection</h3> <h3>Ethiopian collection</h3> <h3>Hebrew collection</h3> <h3>Indian collection</h3> <h3>Indian (non-Mughal) collection</h3> <h3>Islamic collection</h3> <h3>Japanese collection</h3> <h3>Papyrus collection</h3> <h3>Persian collection</h3> <h3>Syriac collection</h3> <h3>Thai collection</h3> <h3>Tibetan collection</h3> <h3>Turkish collection</h3> <h3>Western collection</h3> <h3>Western Miscellaneous collection</h3> <h3>Western Prints and Drawings collection</h3> <h3>Others</h3> <h2 id="external-links">External links</h2> Wikimedia Commons has media related to Chester Beatty Library. <ul><li><a href="https://chesterbeatty.ie/">Official website</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DY6n4ICzJPk"><i>Meeting at the Chester Beatty</i>, read by Catherine Ann Cullen</a></li> <li><a href="https://artsandculture.google.com/u/0/partner/chester-beatty-library?hl=en%3F%3F">Chester Beatty Library</a> within <a href="/facts/Google_Arts_%26_Culture/yWIspRsX">Google Arts & Culture</a></li></ul> <h2 id="references">References</h2> <ol> <li id="fn:1"><p>"Chester Beatty Story". Chester Beatty. Retrieved 2 April 2023. <a href="https://chesterbeatty.ie/about/chester-beatty-story/" target="_blank">https://chesterbeatty.ie/about/chester-beatty-story/</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:2"><p>Clare Pollard (1 September 2000). "The Chester Beatty Library and its East Asian Collections". Antiquity. Archived from the original on 17 May 2011. Retrieved 21 March 2008. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110517062045/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-65802699.html" target="_blank">https://web.archive.org/web/20110517062045/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-65802699.html</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:3"><p>Brian Lavery (17 July 2002). "Arts Abroad; An Irish Castle for Religious Manuscripts". The New York Times. Retrieved 21 March 2008. <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2002/07/17/books/arts-abroad-an-irish-castle-for-religious-manuscripts.html" target="_blank">https://www.nytimes.com/2002/07/17/books/arts-abroad-an-irish-castle-for-religious-manuscripts.html</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:4"><p>Elizabeth Hutcheson (3 December 2006). "Chester Beatty Library: Magnificent Collection of Islamic and Far Eastern Artefacts". Mathaba News Network. Archived from the original on 13 May 2015. Retrieved 21 March 2008. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150513145054/http://mathaba.net/news/?x=546762" target="_blank">https://web.archive.org/web/20150513145054/http://mathaba.net/news/?x=546762</a> <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:5"><p>"Priceless Ancient Text Reassembled". BBC News. 12 July 2001. Retrieved 21 March 2008. <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/low/entertainment/1435490.stm" target="_blank">http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/low/entertainment/1435490.stm</a> <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:6"><p>"Thrilling Messages from a Shared Past". The Irish Times. 6 January 2007. Retrieved 21 March 2008. <a href="http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/weekend/2007/0106/1168032999621.html" target="_blank">http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/weekend/2007/0106/1168032999621.html</a> <a href="#fnref:6" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:7"><p>Robinson, James M. (2015). The Manichaean Codices of Medinet Madi. Cambridge: James Clarke & Company. ISBN 978-0-227-90389-6. <a href="978-0-227-90389-6" target="_blank">978-0-227-90389-6</a> <a href="#fnref:7" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:8"><p>Beduhn, Jason D.; Dilley, Paul; Gardner, Iain (2023). The Medinet Madi Library of Manichaean Codices at 90: Papers from the Symposium at the Chester Beatty Library in Dublin, 18-19 October 2019. Nag Hammadi and Manichaean Studies. Vol. 104. Leiden: Brill. ISBN 978-90-04-53982-2. <a href="978-90-04-53982-2" target="_blank">978-90-04-53982-2</a> <a href="#fnref:8" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:9"><p>"Castle is Fitting Home for Beatty Treasures". The Irish Times. 3 February 2000. Retrieved 21 March 2008. <a href="http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/property/2000/0203/00020300204.html" target="_blank">http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/property/2000/0203/00020300204.html</a> <a href="#fnref:9" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:10"><p>"Christianity | Explore the Collections". Chester Beatty. Retrieved 25 March 2020. <a href="https://chesterbeatty.ie/explore/christianity/" target="_blank">https://chesterbeatty.ie/explore/christianity/</a> <a href="#fnref:10" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:11"><p>A Catalogue of the Persian Manuscripts and Miniatures Archived 3 August 2019 at the Wayback Machine Chester Beatty <a href="https://chesterbeatty.ie/assets/uploads/2018/11/A-Catalogue-of-the-Persian-Manuscripts-and-Miniatures-Vol-1_Part1.pdf" target="_blank">https://chesterbeatty.ie/assets/uploads/2018/11/A-Catalogue-of-the-Persian-Manuscripts-and-Miniatures-Vol-1_Part1.pdf</a> <a href="#fnref:11" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:12"><p>Ireland and Japan cooperate in Preservation of Ancient ArtworksBy Shane McCausland, Curator of the East Asian Collections Archived 29 October 2013 at the Wayback Machine Ireland Embassy in Japan <a href="http://www.irishembassy.jp/home/index.aspx?id=53939" target="_blank">http://www.irishembassy.jp/home/index.aspx?id=53939</a> <a href="#fnref:12" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:13"><p>These are collection highlights according to museum site "Chester Beatty Explore". Chester Beatty. (at least those, which have image in Wikimedia commons) <a href="https://chesterbeatty.ie/explore/places/" target="_blank">https://chesterbeatty.ie/explore/places/</a> <a href="#fnref:13" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> </ol>