Memory of the World; 2012 - unesdoc - Unesco

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Bašagi� collection
of Islamic manuscripts
Inscribed 1997
What is it
A collection of Bosnian literary and scientific works.
Why was it inscribed
After the destruction of the National Library of Sarajevo,
Bašagić’s manuscripts became the most significant
and comprehensive, and in some cases the sole, record
of Bosnian Muslim literature from the 16th to the
19th centuries.
Where is it
University Library, Bratislava, Slovak Republic
Dr Safvet beg Bašagić was a Bosnian writer, poet,
academic and curator who played a leading role in
the early-20th-century renaissance in Bosnian Muslim
culture. Born in Nevesinje in 1870, he received his
doctorate from the University of Vienna where he studied
Arabic and Persian. He then taught Oriental languages
at the University of Zagreb and was curator of the
Archaeological Museum in Sarajevo from 1919 to 1927.
176 Bašagić collection of Islamic manuscripts
He co-founded the cultural magazine Gajret, and was
elected President of the Bosnian council in 1910.
After inheriting an extensive book collection from his
father, Bašagić spent 30 years adding to it rare texts from
across the former Ottoman empire and transforming it
into the single most important literary archive of Bosnian
culture. In 1924 he sold his collection of manuscripts and
printed books to the University Library in Bratislava.
The Bašagić Collection includes 284 volumes of
manuscripts and 589 individual works: 393 Arabic,
117 Turkish and eighty-eight Persian. Together these
represent the most comprehensive record of Bosnia’s
written heritage from the 16th to the 19th centuries. There
are famous works of Bosnian Muslim literature (both
prose and poetry) and many influential scientific texts (in
subjects as diverse as theology, law, history, philosophy and
Islamic mysticism). Many of the books by Bosnian scholars
are unique and there are several rare works of worldwide
importance by Islamic authors from other countries,
including a complete manuscript by Al-Farabi and the
largest collection of four-lined verses by Omar Khayyam.
As well as documenting the changing culture and history
of Bosnia, the collection offers valuable insights into
Turkish State administration and the religious situation
in Bosnia between the 16th and the 19th centuries.