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The
Near East Collection
The Curator In support of Near Eastern, Islamic, and Arabic
studies at Yale, the curator collects materials from the Near East and North
Africa (excluding Israel) in all languages in a wide range of subjects,
such as social sciences, Arabic literature, and Islam. The curator also
collects materials in Arabic from around the world. To suggest additional
books that are appropriate for the collection, contact the Curator of the
Near East Collection, Mr. Simon
Samoeil. Many library selectors collect other materials in support of
Near Eastern, Islamic, and Arabic studies at Yale. Generally, these materials
are written in languages other than Arabic, Persian, and Turkish or are
published in Israel or countries outside of the Near East and North Africa.
To suggest such books, check the list of
library selectors for the appropriate subject specialist or fill out
the online book
request form.
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Left to Right: Dimitri Gutas, Director of Graduate
Studies for the Near East Languages & Civilizations Department,
Simon Samoeil, Curator for the YUL Near East Collection, Benjamin
Foster, Chair of the Department of Near East Languages & Civilizations.
Photograph by Michael Marsland, Yale University Office
of Public Affairs.
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History of the collection
Yale was the first among American colleges and universities
to support and encourage the study of Arabic literature and Islamic culture.
When the first professor of Arabic, Edward Elbridge Salisbury, was appointed
in 1841, he was the only scholar of his kind in the United States. For
over a century, Yale has developed an extensive collection of Near Eastern
library materials to support Arabic and Near Eastern Studies at Yale.
At present, the collection is considered among the most important Near
East collections in this country, and in the world. When Leon Nemoy wrote
a book about the Near East collection at Yale in 1956, the library was
comprised of only three distinct collections which were housed in the
Sterling Memorial Library:
- The Salisbury Collection: Presented to Yale in
1870 by Edward Elbridge Salisbury, professor of Arabic at Yale from
1841-1856. Part of his collection was purchased from the private library
of the great French Arabist Antoine Isaac Baron Silvestre de Sacy.
- The Landberg Collection: This is one of several
collections assembled by the eminent Swedish Arabist, Carlo Count Landberg.
Mr. Morris Ketchum Jesup purchased the collection from him and presented
it to Yale in 1900.
- The Open Arabic Collection: This collection consists
of titles acquired by the library by purchase, exchange, or as gifts.
It includes over 300 volumes from a collection of manuscripts formerly
in the Wellcome Museum in London. The collection was acquired by the
antique book dealer Hans P. Kraus in New York, and purchased by Yale
in 1949.
Since the publication of Nemoy's book in 1956, the Yale
Library has amassed a considerable amount of materials. Today the Yale University
Library houses more then 400,000 books relating to Near Eastern Studies
in Western languages and spread over numerous libraries and collections.
There are over 150,000 Arabic and Persian volumes which cover a wide variety
of subject areas. The collection is particularly strong in classical texts,
Islamic Law, History, Philosophy, and Arabic Literature. The majority of
the materials are in Arabic. The Arabic, Persian and Ottoman Turkish collections "regular
and oversize" using the Library of Congress Classification System are housed in the 6th floor at
Sterling Memorial Library. The older collection using Yale Classification System are housed in the 7th
floor at Sterling Memorial Library. Currently the
library owns more than 1,900 serials, of which approximately 900 are in
the vernacular scripts, relating to Near East studies including a large
number of periodicals and major American and European scholarly journals.
The current Arabic and Persian periodicals are located in a special area
in the Periodical Reading Room in Sterling Memorial Library.
Staff of the Neareast Collection
Simon Samoeil, Curator
Near East Collection
Yale Sterling Memorial Library
Room 116
Tel: (203)432-1799 (curator)
(203)-432-7677(staff)
Abdul Ahad Hannawi, Arabic Specialist
Majda Deeb, Assistant Cataloging
Abdelwhab Mustafa, Assistant Cataloging
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![[IMAGE: see caption]](pictures/curator.gif)