9 The Collection of Arabic Manuscripts at the “V.I. Vernadsky” National Library of Ukraine in Kyiv
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Abstract
The present contribution offers an overview of the collection of Arabic manuscripts preserved at the Institute of Manuscripts of the National Library of Ukraine in Kyiv named after V.I. Vernadsky. It was formed mostly in the 1920s–1930s in the context of the complex process of development of Oriental studies in Ukraine, mainly on the basis of the following sources: a) the private collection of Agathangel Krymsky that belonged to the Cabinet of Arabic and Iranian Philology at the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences; b) manuscripts donated by Pr Antonin Kapustin to the Kyiv Theological Academy; c) the collection of the Polish nobleman Józef Jabłonowski that became a part of the library of the former University of St Vladimir. This chapter surveys the history of the formation and study of the collection of Arabic manuscripts in the National Library of Ukraine in Kyiv, with a special focus on the section of Christian Arabic manuscripts. The latter includes five Orthodox liturgical books, a manuscript of the Beirut Church Chronicle, and a manuscript copy of the Concise Epistle on How to Repent and Confess printed in Aleppo by Athanasius Dabbās in 1711, the last book that came out of his press.