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Oriental and East Asian Manuscripts
Koran aus Sevilla, Cod.arab. 1, fol. 129v und 130rThrough the purchase of the library of the diplomat and Orientalist Johann Albrecht Widmanstetter the Munich Court Library had already acquired about 300 Oriental manuscripts in the Arabic, Armenian, Hebrew and Syrian languages upon its foundation. The secularisation added only few manuscripts to the Oriental collection, however, these few manuscripts were all the more important, such as the world-famous 
Babylonian Talmud. During the 19th century numerous Oriental manuscripts were acquired through private purchases which were necessary for the corresponding university departments and their demand for literature. The most spectacular acquisition was the purchase of the library of Etienne Quatremere, comprising 1200 manuscripts from the Middle East and from India. Since the beginning of the 19th century also manuscripts of East- and South-East Asian origin have been acquired. The foundation for the prestigious collection of Sinica was laid by several collective purchases, and the collection was continuously complemented throughout the 20th century. Today, the library holds approximately 16,700 Oriental manuscripts in 45 languages, not counting Old Oriental texts (hieroglyphs, cuneiform script, Old Sabaean). The scope of materials used for writing on is extraordinarily broad: papyrus, paper, leather, parchment, palm leaf, dluwang, birch bark, bamboo, wood, cloth, ivory, bone, stone, gold, silver and other metals.
Babylonian Talmud. During the 19th century numerous Oriental manuscripts were acquired through private purchases which were necessary for the corresponding university departments and their demand for literature. The most spectacular acquisition was the purchase of the library of Etienne Quatremere, comprising 1200 manuscripts from the Middle East and from India. Since the beginning of the 19th century also manuscripts of East- and South-East Asian origin have been acquired. The foundation for the prestigious collection of Sinica was laid by several collective purchases, and the collection was continuously complemented throughout the 20th century. Today, the library holds approximately 16,700 Oriental manuscripts in 45 languages, not counting Old Oriental texts (hieroglyphs, cuneiform script, Old Sabaean). The scope of materials used for writing on is extraordinarily broad: papyrus, paper, leather, parchment, palm leaf, dluwang, birch bark, bamboo, wood, cloth, ivory, bone, stone, gold, silver and other metals. Some items which deserve special attention are the ornamental Korans among the Arabic manuscripts, the Persian miniature manuscripts and lacquer covers, the Tibetan book covers and the manuscripts of the peoples of South-East Asia (Shan, Yao, i. a.). With approximately 2800 Yao manuscripts, the BSB hold the most important collection of this kind in the Western world. The BSB is one of the few libraries outside Yemen holding 800 Old Sabaean wood inscriptions, which are being deciphered only now. To mention some important unique specimens, the BSB holds a Hebrew Machsor, the cosmography by al-Qazwini (1280), an Armenian book of gospels with miniatures (1278), a 83 meters long roll containing the Indian epos Mahabharata, a Tibetan manuscript with the thumb print of the 5th Dalai Lama, gold and silver leaves from Burma, a Buddhist sutra from the Japanese Tempyo period (8th century) and a blue-gold sutra from the Heian period in the 12th century. The most valuable of the Chinese manuscripts are doubtlessly the Dunhuang manuscripts, followed by a copy of the Tang law book from the Hanlin academy which was crafted upon order by the emperor during the Ming period. Furthermore, several partially bilingual (Manjurian-Chinese) edicts and deeds should be mentioned.
Oriental and East Asia Department
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