The Selections of Arabic, Persian, and Ottoman Calligraphy collection came about through a collaborative effort between staff at the Library of Congress and scholars of Islamic codicology (the arts of the book) and paleography (the science of handwriting). Assistant Professor of Islamic Art, Dr. Christiane J. Gruber, Indiana University at Bloomington, provided the written descriptions and translations of approximately 355 calligraphy sheets as well as the collection’s framework text.
Dr. Gruber thanks Fariba Afkari, who shared the task of deciphering, transcribing, and translating Persian poems located in a variety of albums of calligraphies and paintings. Their work in Tehran during the summer of 2005 provided the basis for her subsequent entries. The expert guidance and immeasurable knowledge and enthusiasm of cAbdallah Anvar and Francis Richard in Tehran also benefited the project.
Dr. Gruber also gratefully acknowledges François Déroche, who offered helpful feedback on the library’s cAbbasid fragments in Kufi script. Michael Carter, Maryam Ekhtiar, Massumeh Farhad, Teresa Fitzherbert, Renata Holod, Paul Losensky, Tim Marr, Charlotte Maury, Suleiman Mourad, Yasmine al-Saleh (and her father), Walid Saleh, John Seyller, Susan Stronge, and Armen Tokatlian also provided assistance with a number of other calligraphic items.
In the African and Middle Eastern Division, Library of Congress, Mary-Jane Deeb, chief, and Chris Murphy and Hirad Dinavari assisted with all aspects of this online presentation. Chris Murphy, area specialist, was the curator for this collection and helped bring this project to fruition.
Sam Manivong, digital conversion specialist, Collections and Services, served as project leader for the online update. Lauren Woodis, Collections and Services, served as project leader for the original online collection.
From the Library’s Preservation Directorate, Conservation Division, Anne Grossman and Yasmeen Khan carried out paper conservation essential to the success of the project. Lynn Kidder, Tamara Ohanyan, and Julie Biggs performed handling and transport of the manuscripts.
Digitization of the calligraphy sheets was accomplished by Lloyd Carter and Jade Curtis from the Information Technology Services, Digital Scan Center. Mike Fitzella, of the Office of Strategic Initiatives (OSI), and Domenic Sergi, of the Digital Scan Center, provided administrative support during the scanning process.
Site design and HTML coding was performed by Tracey Marie Salley under the direction of Lola Pyne, both of the Office of Strategic Initiatives (OSI).
Barak Stussman, OSI, was responsible for the site programming. Liz Madden and Christa Maher, OSI, assisted in preparing the bibliographic data and with a variety of technical matters.
Michael Neubert, digital projects coordinator and John Van Oudenaren, senior advisor, World Digital Library and Global Gateway project manager, provided managerial support.
Andrea Matles Savada, Collections and Services, edited the framework documents.