Khalidi Library online

While some museums are closed due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Apollo’s usual weekly pick of exhibitions will include shows at institutions that are currently open as well as digital projects providing virtual access to art and culture.

The Khalidi Library, which opened in Jerusalem in 1900, boasts one of the largest private collections of Arabic manuscripts in the world; it comprises some 1,200 titles, with the oldest dating back around 1,000 years, as well as around 5,500 printed volumes and papers documenting the activities of the Khalidis, a prominent Palestinian family, since the 18th century. Following a major digitisation project undertaken with the Hill Museum and Manuscript Library in the US (described by the cataloguer Joshua Mugler in the November 2020 issue of Apollo), the library has now launched a new website, with a range of texts and images exploring its history and collections. View the Khalidi website here, and explore the digitised manuscript collection via the Hill Museum and Manuscript Library website here.

Preview below | View Apollo’s Art Diary here

A Digest of Eloquent Correspondence (12th century), Muhammad bin Abdul Rahman bin Abdul Aziz al-Makhzoumi al-Khalidi. Khalidi Library, Jerusalem

Page from a Persian manuscript entitled Yaz and Baz, (Lover and Adored). Khalidi Library, Jerusalem

The Khalidi Library website