One of 525 rare manuscripts donated by İsmail Erünsal is online. (AA Photo)
A collection of 525 rare works donated by Ottoman book and library history scholar İsmail Erünsal to Istanbul’s Süleymaniye Manuscript Library has been digitized and opened to public access worldwide.
The collection, assembled by Erünsal over decades through his personal efforts, includes unique copies, rare works and manuscripts written in the authors’ own handwriting. Among its highlights is a handwritten copy of the Divan by renowned Ottoman poet Şeyh Galib, believed to have been written when he was only 18 or 19 years old.
Culture and Tourism Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy said the donation demonstrated the importance of individual contributions to preserving cultural heritage and passing it on to future generations. He thanked Erünsal for donating the collection. “I sincerely thank our esteemed professor, Prof. Dr. İsmail Erünsal, for donating his collection so that these works, which he regarded as a trust belonging to our nation, could be better preserved, passed on to future generations and made available to more people,” he wrote on social media.
The ministry’s Directorate General of Manuscripts Institutions completed the collection’s maintenance, restoration, digitization and cataloging in about two months after it was donated to the Süleymaniye Manuscript Library on Aug. 6.
The digitization project now allows researchers and members of the public around the world to examine the manuscripts remotely, expanding access to works that are significant sources for the study of Ottoman literary and intellectual history.
