Module: Robert Curzon

IntroductionExercisesStudent Projects
Phillipps MS 22,123 00
Phillipps MS 22,123, Phillipps Collection, The Grolier Club of New York. Photograph[s] courtesy of The Grolier Club of New York.
Phillipps MS 22,123 01
Phillipps MS 22,123, Phillipps Collection, The Grolier Club of New York. Photograph[s] courtesy of The Grolier Club of New York.
Phillipps MS 22,123 02-03
Phillipps MS 22,123, Phillipps Collection, The Grolier Club of New York. Photograph[s] courtesy of The Grolier Club of New York.
Phillipps MS 22,123 03-04
Phillipps MS 22,123, Phillipps Collection, The Grolier Club of New York. Photograph[s] courtesy of The Grolier Club of New York.
Phillipps MS 22,123 04-05
Phillipps MS 22,123, Phillipps Collection, The Grolier Club of New York. Photograph[s] courtesy of The Grolier Club of New York.

This manuscript entitled „Libraries of the Levant“ (dated Jan. 5, 1837) was a description of manuscripts Curzon had seen or acquired on his travels, which preceded his soon-to-be bestseller travel account, Visits to Monasteries in the Levant (1849). It was sent to his friend Sir Thomas Phillipps.

The Grolier Club of New York graciously digitized the document for us, which you can read and annotate with Hypothes.is . You can also see a transcription of it in , Appendix B, 170FF (direct link to page 170).

See also the record in the Grolier Club finding aid or in WorldCat.

  • Read Curzon’s description in his Visits to Monasteries in the Levant, 84-89. The story continues on 102-104. (You can also compare his portrayal of the monks’ attitudes toward manuscripts in his account of his visit to Mt. Athos, esp. 381-382 and 422-424.) How does he describe the monks? In which manner is their relationship to the manuscripts depicted? How does he describe the manuscripts? If you have extra time, read the whole book and see with the questions above in mind.
  • Who was Sir Thomas Phillipps, and what was his relation to Curzon?
  • Compare the manuscript „Libraries of the Levant“ by Curzon to his published travel account. How are the contents and emphases different?
  • In his letter to Phillipps (pg. 21–22), Curzon mentions Burckhardt’s description of the Sinai library , where some of the same manuscripts are mentioned. (See also Curzon’s Visits, 350–351.) Compare these descriptions. Can you find the same manuscripts in each? What do the descriptions tell you about the attitude and expertise of each of the hunters?

Respond to one or more of the above questions by creating a student project as a new page describing your findings and linking to the relevant documents or passages. Optionally, you can tag relevant passages using Hypothes.is.

Kerstin Klingelhöffer: Comparison of Curzon's Prefaces
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Kerstin Klingelhöffer: Tagging Manuscripts, People, and Repositories in Curzon's Monasteries of the Levant

See the annotations in Hypothes.is (you must be logged in to Hypothes.is and join the „Manuscript Hunters“ group).

You can also see all the annotations labeled with a specific tag by clicking on the tag under the note, for example place-type: manuscripts found and person-type:manuscript hunter.

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Transcription of Curzon's notes on Sinai by Ella Ayoub, Chaima Bankesli, Lukas Froschmeier, Bilal Safiou
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Transcription of Curzon's notes on Sinai by Ella Ayoub, Chaima Bankesli, Lukas Froschmeier, Bilal Safiou

Mount Sinai. The library in the monastery of St. Catherine contains 2000 volumes. 500 of which are arabic an account of these may be seen in Burkhardts travels in Arabia. One of them which I looked at was a history of Egypt. 500 more are Greek manuscripts on vellum of these there are 12 of the Gospels, several of the Psalms a fine Crysostom & most of the fathers. But in the Patriarch’s room are kept 3 famous manuscripts with all the rest together. The first contains the whole book of Psalms written on the six leaves duodecimo of fine vellum, very ancient & legible. The next is the Gospels in uncial and rather round letters of gold, on white vellum the letters resemble the acts at the Bodleian, but it is full of Contractions, this book is in its original binding of pure gold & jewels it has 16 illuminations the size of the page, a large quarto & remains exactly in the state in which it was presented to St. Catherine by the Emperor Justinian. The 3rd is a Firman of privileges granted to the monks by Mohammed who has set his mark to it, as he could not write by covering the palm of his hand with ink and laying it on the roll. the names of ali abubekir, Othman, Oman, and several more are written at the bottom, as witnesses.

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Further Reading

Burckhardt, Johann Ludwig. Johann Ludwig Burckhardt’s Reisen in Syrien, Palästina und der Gegend des Berges Sinai: aus dem Englischen. Hrsg. und mit Anmerkungen begleitet von Wilhelm Gesenius, 1824. https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.5558. Cite
Curzon, Robert. Visits to Monasteries in the Levant. London: John Murray, 1849. https://via.hypothes.is/https://ia800908.us.archive.org/4/items/32882019065096-avisittomonaste/HighRes_32882019065096.pdf. Cite
Munby, A. N. L. The Formation of the Phillipps Library up to the Year 1840. London, 1971. https://archive.org/details/formationofphill0000munb. Cite
Volkoff, Oleg V. À la recherche de manuscrits en Égypte. Publications de l’Institut Français d’Archéologie Orientale 417. Cairo: Institut Français d’Archéologie Orientale, 1970. Cite