• Armenian Catholic Clergy Institute
  Bzommar, Lebanon
• Bibliothèque Orientale at the Université Saint-Joseph
  Beirut, Lebanon
• Our Lady of Balamand Monastery and University
  Tripoli, Lebanon
• Armenian Apostolic Catholicosate of the Great House of Cilicia
  Antelias, Lebanon
• Deir Mar Yuhanna al-Shuwayr (“Monastery of Saint John the Baptist at Shweir”)
  Khonchara, Lebanon
• Monastery of Saint George at Deir-esh-Shir
  Jounieh, Lebanon
• Université du Saint-Esprit
  Kaslik, Lebanon
• Deir el-Kreim, Lebanese Maronite Missionary Order
  Jounieh, Lebanon

• Priory of Rome
• National Archives of Malta

• Melkite Greek-Catholic Archdiocese of Aleppo
  Aleppo, Syria
• Syriac Orthodox Archdiocese of Aleppo
  Aleppo, Syria
• Syriac Catholic Archdiocese of Aleppo
  Aleppo, Syria
• Syriac Orthodox Archdiocese of Homs
  Homs, Syria

• The Stefanyk Library of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine
  L’viv, Ukraine
• L’viv Historical Museum
  L’viv, Ukraine

• Saint Thomas Christian Manuscript Collections
  Kerala, India

• Austria/Germany/Switzerland
• British Isles
• Iberia
• Italy
• Malta
• South Africa
• Sweden
• Ethiopia

Bibliothèque Orientale at the Université Saint-Joseph
Beirut, Lebanon
3,500 Manuscripts

 

The Bibliothèque Orientale at the Université de Saint-Joseph was founded by French Jesuits in the late 19th century to house the manuscripts they had collected in various parts of the Middle East. Today it is the premier research library in the region, with 3,500 manuscripts in its collection. Located near the center of Beirut, the Library and its collections survived Lebanon’s civil war, though its outside walls still bear the scars of gunfire. The digitization project at the Bibliothèque Orientale was begun by Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. HMML assumed responsibility and technical direction of the project in 2004 as part of its broader manuscript preservation initiative in the Middle East. HMML has made a digitized version of the printed manuscript catalog of the Bibliothèque Orientale available on Vivarium, HMML’s website for digital images from its collections.

To learn more about the the Université de Saint-Joseph and the Bibliothèque Orientale, click here.

Opening pages of a 19^th century Arabic book of Christian prayers for lay people. Ms. BO-USJ 907, fols. 13r-12v.

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Manuscript Resources at HMML

The manuscripts of the Bibliothèque Orientale de l'Université Saint-Joseph are described in detail in a French/Arabic language printed catalogue. Use the button below to access an online version of this catalogue:.

Sample images of the Bibliothèque Orientale manuscripts can be browsed. Here's how to decipher the image filenames:

Manuscripts imaged by BYU,  Example: USJ_0027C202
"USJ" is the code for  l'Université Saint-Joseph., "0027" is the manuscript shelfmark. "C" is a code letter, followed by a page sequence number. Shelfmarks should refer to manuscript numbers in the scanned catalogue.

Manuscripts imaged by HMML, Example:  bo_usj_00880_001r
"bo" refers to Bibliothèque Orientale, "usj" refers to l'Université Saint-Joseph. The middle part of the title is the manuscript number (shelfmark) and the last part refers to folio numbers.

Search by Shelfmark (Manuscript Number)
If you've found a particular manuscript number in the printed catalogue, you can enter it in the box below and press "go" to retrieve sample images from that particular work if samples from that manuscript have been posted on Vivarium.

Syntax for Searching Shelfmarks:
Manuscript numbers must be preceded by the project code "USJ" followed by a space. Enter numbers with leading zeroes so that the number is in five-digit form. Example: manuscript number 7 would be entered as USJ 00007, manuscript number 20 would be entered as USJ 00020.

Catalogue is in French and Arabic. Manuscripts are in Arabic, Armenian and Syriac. More information can be found here

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Finding Manuscripts from This Project in OLIVER, HMML's Online Manuscript Database

To find manuscript records from this collection in OLIVER, go to:
OLIVER Manuscript Search
and use the "City" drop-down menu to select the city, "Beirut."