Some hundred and fifty manuscripts from the oriental collection of Bushatlli Pasha will be on display during the Days of European Heritage at the National Library.
During the first week of October the Albanian public will have the chance to see for the first time one of the rarest collections of the National Library; some 150 manuscripts of the famous library of the Bushatllinj family dating XV-XIX century, including philosophy, religion, literature, philology, rhetoric, cosmography etc.
It represents in a certain way the “spiritual wealth” of this family, which is also a testimony of the autonomy that Shkodra’s region at the time, during the years 1757-1831.
“It’s a rare treasure. Due to some specific conditions there will be on display only for a week” says Aurel Plasari, director of the National Library.
The library was founded as a general institute by Mehmet Pasha Senior and was kept and further enriched by his sons, particularly Mehmet Pasha known as a scholar and who contributed to the library a lot of French and Turkish books.
The library has nearly 3000 volumes about theology, law and religious books, scientific texts on physics, natural sciences, mathematics, geometry, philosophy, astronomy, history etc. the library has a very rich fund of rare samples of the oriental world such as works by Ibn Khaldun, translated in Turkish, Xhevdet Pasha (12 volumes), Vasif Tahiri, etc. Among all these books, there was also an Albanian one written by Tahir Ef Gjakova “Vehbije” and the Turkish history by Ahmet Pasha Dukagjini. All the books of this precious collection contain the personal stamp of Mustafa Pasha, even when he left Albania, he sent the stamp in Shkodra and so the books continued to have the same stamp. The display of the oriental collection will be accompanied with different information about how the library functioned, the very strict rules etc
The Days of European Heritage have been organized by the Council of Europe since 1991, but in Albania these days exists for at least ten years. But despite that, libraries in Albania have not displayed any of the rare funds in their possession.
“We are dealing with an oriental collection not only in terms of language but also in terms of aesthetic. Some of the texts by ancient authors come from Arabic translations. That’s why this collection is considered to be part of the European heritage. Because of the aesthetic values and their distinct calligraphy, the Arab-Persian manuscripts are considered very valuable nowadays in Europe. The usage of gold in these manuscripts tells us about the high standards in producing art works.” explains Plasari.
The biggest and richest collection of Oriental manuscripts is in the National Library of Paris. The exhibition will be on display for only one week, in order to avoid the damage of this rare and precious collection.
