In one of the most honourable manners, Ruler of Sharjah Sheikh Dr. Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi has come ahead to donate 12,000 rare books to the emirate’s House of Wisdom.

The donations made by the ruler include valuable publications on the region’s art and architecture, some of which include books more than 100 years old.

One of the rare books is from the private library of German historians and couple Richard and Elizabeth Ettinghausen —both of whom were specialists in Islamic and Arab art.

Sheikh Dr. Sultan has recently obtained the Ettinghausens’s library and has since donated it to the House of Wisdom. The collection of the books has been written in more than 10 languages, including Arabic, English, German, Japanese, Urdu, and Russian.

The Ettinghausens were considered two of the world’s most renowned academics in Islamic arts and architecture. Richard Ettinghausen built the collection into one of the finest collections on Islamic art in the world during his tenure as chief curator of the Freer. Their library includes rare research on arts in the Islamic world including in Iran, India, Spain, and Turkey.

One of the interesting books in the collection is a rare 1888 edition of ‘Haza Kitab-i-mustahabb-i Vasaya-Yi Khvajah Nizam al-Mulk', written by Persian vizier Abu Ali Hasan ibn Ali Tusi. One of only two copies listed globally, this book is a treatise on governance and political science.

A special team at the House of Wisdom is categorising the collection and preparing to present it in a special exhibition. Though the dates or details of the exhibition haven’t been revealed, it will be open to the general public.

The recently inaugurated House of Wisdom library in December 2020 by Sheikh Dr. Sultan, is home to more than 300,000 books across its 12,000-square-metre location.