Ars Libri is pleased to announce three scholarly Central Asian libraries
for sale, as follows:
The Library of Professor Dr. Karl Heinrich Menges (1908-1999):
Central Asia. Languages, Literature, History & Culture
2601 monographs in ca. 3,080 volumes
50 serial titles in ca. 1,150 volumes
Uncatalogued material: Ca. 800 volumes of substantially incomplete
journals; ca. 5,000 offprints; the manuscripts, notes and scholarly
correspondence of Professor Menges.
The Library of Professor Dr. Karl Jettmar: Cultures of the Karakorum
Highway, Eurasia & Their Relationship with Adjacent Civilizations
5632 monographs in ca. 6,500 volumes
118 serial titles in ca. 2,500 volumes
Uncatalogued material: Ca. 450 volumes of substantially incomplete
journals; ca. 3,500 offprints; ca. 2,500 slides taken by Professsor
Jettmar on his expeditions to Pakistan and Afghanistan; the manuscripts,
notes and scholarly correspondence of Professor Jettmar.
The Library of Professor Richard N. Frye: Iran & Central Asia
Ca. 5,000 monographs in over 6,500 volumes
Ca. 110 serial titles in over 3,500 volumes
Uncatalogued material: Ca. 750 volumes of substantially incomplete
journals; ca. 4,500 offprints
Although each library is significant and important on its own, the three
libraries together--due to their complementary character and the very
small amount of internal duplication--form the most significant resource
for the scholarly study of Central Asia and Iran in private hands. This
amalgamated library of over 17,000 monographic volumes, and more than
200 complete periodical runs in over 8,500 volumes, as well as some
13,000 offprints, 2,500 slides and correspondence and manuscripts by the
three scholars, rivals the holdings of virtually all major research
institutions.
The Menges Library constitutes a comprehensive research collection
devoted primarily to the languages of the geographical region in
question. It is particularly strong in publications in Central Asian
languages published in the countries of Central Asia in the first half
of the 20th century, in addition to publications in Western and Slavic
languages (as well as Chinese, Japanese and Korean). A significant
amount of the former we cannot trace in any American academic library. A
strong focus of the library is the interrelationship between the
literatures and languages of the Turkic-speaking peoples of Central
Asia. The collection contains also a good group of rare books of the
18th, 19th and early 20th centuries.
Professor Jettmar’s library is devoted to the cultures of the Karakorum
Highway and Eurasia and their contacts with adjacent cultures. Focused
primarily on the archaeology and ethnography of the peoples of that
region, the library is comprehensive in those subjects. It contains
significant concentrations of publications on the archaeology of
Afghanistan, Pakistan, and the peoples of Northern India. Of the three
libraries, Professor Jettmar’s library covers the largest geographical
area, reaching from the Western borders of Eurasia to Sinjiang in China
and from Siberia to the Persian Gulf.
The focal point of the library of Professor Frye is the countries of the
Persian Empire from the Achaemenids to modern times. It is exceptionally
strong in rare publications of the 19th and early 20th centuries
covering the history, literature, religion, philosophy, and art and
archaeology of Iran, Azerbaidjan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, and
Afghanistan from Achaemenid times to the 20th century, and also has
important groups of publications on Armenia and Georgia. Within the
library is contained an important collection of publications related to
Zoroastrianism, mostly published in India in the last quarter of the
19th century and the first quarter of the 20th century. The library
includes publications in some two dozen different languages.
These catalogues can be accessed on our website at www.arslibri.com. We
would be happy to send them to you in electronic form, rather than in
paper form, because of their length.
Priority will be given to institutions willing to purchase all three
collections together.
Further details on request.
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