As manuscripts of an old collection appear to the public eye
From the 1st of October, and for a week, the National Library of Albania met the European Cultural Heritage Days with an exhibition of the numerous manuscripts belonging to the collection of the Bushatlli Family (see former Tirana Times issue). This is the first time that the rich collection was presented to the public. The Bushatllis, a family which is supposed to have sprung from the village of Bushat, in the district of Shkod첬 ruled over the north of Albania from 1757 to 1831. During their rule, a library was established in the north-western city of Shkod철where the Pashas had their residence. This library is said to have possessed nearly 3000 manuscripts and books concerning not only religious matters but also all fields of the cultural, philosophic and scientific thought of the time.
Among the books belonging to this library is said to have been a book of an Albanian author Tahir Effendi Gjakova, written in Albanian using an oriental alphabet and calligraphy, as well as the history written in Turkish by the other Albanian author Ahmet Pash롄ukagjini.
The collections of the Bushatllis are believed to have been started by Mehmet Pasha the Elder. They were enriched by his sons, especially by Mustafa Pasha who left the books to the readers of the city. “Mustafa Pasha had opened at Scodra his valuable library to the public; any one could borrow books, leaving a receipt for them. Before abandoning his pashalic, he constituted this library Vacouf, that it might be consecrated to the same purpose. When, subsequently, the Sultan offered him a pashalic in Asia, he replied that he would rather have the command of a printing press” informs in 1838, the book The Spirit of the East, by the renowned Scotts man of letters and political activist David Urquhart.
The manuscripts of his collection bear the stamp of Mustafa Pasha. To date the National Library of Albania (NLoA) counts nearly 150 manuscripts having belonged to the Bushatllis. They were selected and singled out as belonging to the former collections of the renowned Scutarine family by the researches conducted in the 60ies and 70ies by Zyber Bakiu (1897-1987) who selected and singled them out from the larger Oriental Collections of the National Library of Albania (NLoA).
The eldest of the manuscripts shown in the cultural heritage exhibition was the Hashiyet (al) li-sherh al-Metal li-Mevlana li Haxhi Pasha, dating from 1382. The manuscript counts 146 pages and was restored in 1989. Historical reports say that in the 19th century the collections of the Bushatllis grouped Western and Oriental books and manuscripts. The director of the library, Aurel Plasari highlights that “The Bushatllis were formidable in the 18-19th centuries, but they bought manuscripts from over three centuries ago, books three centuries younger than them” (Shekulli, 29.09.2009).
In its other early collections, the NLoA groups 7 incunabula and some other books published shortly after the apparition of the printed press. To date the NLoA has collections of over 1 million books and library units and is located in two buildings.
The manuscripts of the Bushatllis which were exhibited at the National Library in Tirana treat of a variety of subjects like philosophy, religion, linguistics, literature, administration, cosmography and rhetoric. “The visitors, and especially the foreign visitors, have been startled at the variety of subjects which were treated in the books, especially as concerns non-religious matters. Books on cosmography, Arabic and oriental translations of Greek authors, dictionaries and treaties on administration and rhetoric as well as the rich illustrations which have ornamented some of the manuscripts were unsuspected to be been found in Albania. The exhibition opens with a translation of Aristotle Ţ says for Tirana Times, Etleva Domi, Vice-Director of the Library. Part of the collection was not displayed to the public.
The European Cultural Heritage Days were established in 1991 (by decision of the Council of Europe, reminds Shekulli). Albania has joined in for over ten years. However this is reported to be the first time that Albania comes up with such an important collection.
