Islamic bookmaking has been a source of fascination for many centuries. It is a collaborative effort, in which a calligrapher, a miniature painter, and an illuminator work together to produce what is often considered to be a masterful work of art.

Treasures of Islam presents some of the world's most beautiful and rare works of art and design that appear in Islamic manuscripts, some of them hundreds of years old, displaying them in a multimedia CD-ROM format. The collection contains works that are one-of-a-kind originals. It will appeal to scholars, students, art collectors, and anyone with an interest in Islamic culture and tradition. The collection is presented in four separate categories:


Calligraphy




a collection of 40 examples of calligraphy, which includes the works of different Islamic scribes from the 9th to the 19th centuries. They range from elegantly executed Qur'anic fragments to richly decorated diplomas written in a variety of styles, including Kufi, Thuluth, and Naskh.





Miniatures

a collection of 42 miniature paintings representing a variety of styles and sources, selected for their beauty and the meticulous work they represent. Many are taken from different manuscripts of Firdawsi's Shahnamah and Nizami's Khamsah. The manuscripts containing the miniatures date from the 13th to the early 20th centuries.




Bindings



a collection of 16 lacquer bindings, chosen on the basis of their rich and splendid decorations, including plants, animals, and human figures. Almost all originated in Persia or Kashmir, and were produced by Persian artists. They date from the 16th to the 20th centuries.





Manuscripts



a collection of 8 Arabic manuscripts included in their entirety, representing prayer books, poems, and a manuscript about calligraphy. The original texts date from the 12th to the 18th centuries.