9/19/2023 09:50
The first volume of “Index to the Early Printed Books in the Library of the Centre for the Great Islamic Encyclopedia” compiled by Muḥammad Ḥussain Tasbīḥī and revised and completed by ʿAlī Bahramiān and Malīḥeh ʿAlīnezhad, was published by the CGIE (the Center for Research on Iran and Islam) Press.
CGIE: The first volume of “Index to the Early Printed Books in the Library of the Centre for the Great Islamic Encyclopedia” compiled by Muḥammad Ḥussain Tasbīḥī and revised and completed by ʿAlī Bahramiān and Malīḥeh ʿAlīnezhad, was published by the CGIE (the Center for Research on Iran and Islam) Press.
Kāẓim Mūsavī Bojnurdī, CEO of the Centre for the Great Islamic Encyclopedia, in the foreword of this volume, stated “Iranians have had a long history and a distinguished record in producing books, from papermaking, calligraphy and penmanship to the art of illumination, painting and bookbinding, many of which are now preserved in the libraries, museums and private collections all around the world. Even though the invention of printing and its rapid spread in Iran [made the printed volume differ in appearance from the handwritten books], the Iranians put their invaluable previous experience into practice to let this industry flourish in their country as far as possible; their creativity and innovation in lithographic printing was considerable and noteworthy up to the point that one could claim this method of printing thrived in Iran. What occurred in that era has been the focus of specific research studies, as there are a variety of issues in this field which can reveal different angles of the cultural, scientific and artistic situations of the Iranian community at that time. In addition to the type of paper, script and binding of such books and their authenticity, these studies can make known the cultural and scientific status of the Iranians in the past two centuries.
The significance of this method of printing in the publication of books has persuaded the bibliographers to search for, examine and list the lithographed books and periodicals alongside the codices in the libraries and other extensive collections and to place emphasis on the importance of the early printed books.
The CGIE Library houses a highly regarded collection of letterpress and lithograph books, an exhaustive catalogue of which entitled “Index to the Early Printed Books in the Library of the Centre for the Great Islamic Encyclopedia” is now accessible to the book experts who wish to broaden their knowledge on this field.
I would like to express my most sincere appreciation for my old colleague, Professor Dr. Muḥammad Ḥussain Tasbīḥī, through whose wide experience and sustained effort, this succinct index was compiled; I also would like to express my deep gratitude to ʿInāyatollah Majīdī, the CGIE’s library manager, who encouraged and emphasized the composition of this catalogue and persevered with its publication; finally, I genuinely appreciate ʿAlī Bahramiān and Dr. Malīḥeh ʿAlīnezhad who assisted with the creation of the indices and also the revising, completing and editing required to publish the book.”
In the introduction at the outset of this book, ʿAlī Bahramiān, CGIE’s chief scientific officer and supervisor of the Persian Books Directory Project, maintains, “One of the major turning-points in the cultural history of our country during the Qājār dynasty, Naṣer al-Dīn Shāh period in particular, is the time when lithographic printing was flourishing; the research studies carried out on this phenomenon in Iran, go beyond the books and their subjects in a way that the researchers consider the books of that period to be symbolic representations for acquiring comparative knowledge of the cultural, religious, social and even economic situations of the Iranian community. Despite all the studies undertaken by the enthusiastic researchers and the information and knowledge gained on the lithograph books, there are still some details left unknown. The extant lithograph books give us useful information about the quality of the paper, type of the script and calligraphy and also other specifications such as the names of the financial supporter, publication observer, printing house, etc. not to mention the subject of the book and its quality regarding the correctness of their contexts. In summary, the Iranian cultural community during that era is demonstrated in the lithograph books. In this industry which has been rightly called ‘the National Iranian Printing Industry’, the cultural elite of Iran has intelligently replaced the traditional method of copying manuscripts with lithograph printing, without leaving their useful previous experience and more importantly, their art of calligraphy aside. Furthermore, the scholars were quite certain that all the copies of the same book were precisely the same and almost free of writing errors, distortions and other flaws.
The printing industry also familiarized and linked the Iranians with other speakers of the Farsi language in their neighboring regions, from the Indian subcontinent, Transoxiana and Afghanistan to Arran (Caucasus), Sherwan, Transcaucasia, Minor Asia and even the Arab lands; the trade of lithograph books in that period, kept the lights on for the enthusiasts of this linguistic heritage. Hence, it is of great significance to identify and list the early printed books, particularly the lithograph books, alongside the codices in either small or large libraries and maintain this long-standing tradition of our ancestors.
The CGIE Library houses a highly regarded, rich and unrivalled collection of early printed and lithograph books, some of which have been added through donation of private collections in the recent years; for this reason, the compilation of an exhaustive catalogue of these works was put on the Library’s agenda. The first volume of “Index to the Early Printed Books in the Library of the Centre for the Great Islamic Encyclopedia” also includes a descriptive list of some of these historical works in its appendix.
Finally, I would like to express my profound gratitude to Dr. Muḥammad Ḥussain Tasbīhī, whose determined efforts and invaluable experience in book research resulted in the publication of this scholarly work. I am also greatly appreciative of my esteemed colleague, Dr. Malīḥeh ʿAlīnezhad whose substantial and special assistance with the creation of the indices and the revision and completion of the lists facilitated the publication of this volume.”
Title of publication: Index to the Early Printed Books in the Library of the Centre for the Great Islamic Encyclopedia, Volume I
Page numbers: 944 pages
Quantity: 200 copies
Price: 6,500,000 Rials
If you are interested in purchasing a copy, please
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