“Yale Library’s collection of manuscripts produced in the Islamic world is one of the largest and oldest in the United States,” says the brochure for Beinecke Library’s Taught by the Pen, an exhibition of highlights from that collection: handwritten and -drawn (and occasionally printed) paper works dating as far back as the 9th century, “from lavishly illuminated Qur’ans, elegant calligraphy albums, and colorfully illustrated epics and chronicles to well-thumbed prayer books, beloved poetry collections, intricate maps, learned scientific and mathematical treatises…”
Scroll down for a taste of Pen’s many flourishes, and, if you find yourself drawn to them, scribble out a plan to visit.
Written and photographed by Dan Mims.
