Literary Heritage of Bosnia and Herzegovina

Digitised Manuscripts of the Specialized Library “Behram-Beg” in Tuzla

Abstract

The manuscript collection of the Specialized Library “Behram-beg” in Tuzla contains 131 manuscript codices written in Arabic, Turkish, Persian and Bosnian. The largest part of the collection consists of manuscripts of the Qur’an, works from the Qur’anic disciplines, hadith sciences, Islamic law, dogmatics, prayers, sermons, grammar, lexicography and belles lettres. Of particular value to this collection are the works of Bosniak authors and works by other authors copied by Bosniaks, as well as works that are rarely found in other manuscriptcollections and those written in Arabic script in the Bosnian language. Of the total number of manuscripts stored in the collection of the Behram-beg library, 78 have been digitised. We will present a part of these manuscripts in this paper, trying to draw attention to the growing importance of digital data processing and storage with the aim of valid protection, study and valorization of written heritage. Digital archives as safe places of storage on the one hand, and top presenters of cultural heritage to a large number of users on the other, can reliably guarantee that times of “archival silence” have passed and that the manuscript treasure will experience its reaffirmation and increasingly arouse the interest of researchers and scientists around the world.