Digitization Project of Yemeni Manuscripts at Leiden University Libraries

As part of Professor Sabine Schmidtke's Zaydi Manuscript Tradition (ZMT) project, the Leiden University Libraries have commenced digitization of their circa 150 Yemini manuscripts.

Writing for the Leiden Special Collections Blog, curator Arnoud Vrolijk discusses Yemen's distinctive written heritage and the threat that ongoing war poses to the country's rich library tradition. Though "scholars from Yemen and abroad are now basically cut off from their source materials," there remain "relatively small but important collections of Yemeni manuscripts" in Europe and America, a number of which will be freely available online thanks to Schmidtke's efforts.

The 150 new manuscripts will be made available online at Leiden University Libraries and via the vHMML Reading Room.

Read more at the Leiden Special Collections Blog.