SOME COMMENTS ABOUT THE LIFE AND WORK OF OJIZ

Аннотация

This thesis provides information about the sources related to Alisher Navoi that are preserved in libraries in Great Britain. It also mentions the scholars who have worked in British libraries and compiled catalogs. Keywords: library, manuscript, catalog, Navoi studies. Sources related to Alisher Navoi's works and creativity can be found in various parts of the world. In particular, some manuscripts and manuscript copies of Navoi's works, as well as references to his name and literary legacy, are preserved in several libraries in Great Britain, including the British Library, the Cambridge University Library, and the Bodleian Libraries at the University of Oxford. Important sources on Navoi have also been digitized on online platforms such as JSTOR, Artstor, Europeana, Digital Bodleian, and the British Library Online Gallery. The Bodleian Library, one of the largest academic library networks in England, is the collective name for the libraries of the University of Oxford. The Bodleian Libraries group includes the main university library—the Bodleian Library itself—as well as 25 other libraries across Oxford, including major research libraries, faculty, departmental, and institute libraries. In total, these libraries house over 13 million printed materials related to the medieval and Renaissance periods, including scholarly works, treatises, and letters, as well as over 80,000 electronic journals and rare collections. These collections include rare books and manuscripts, classical papyri, maps, musical scores, artworks, and printed ephemera. The main Bodleian Library, established in 1602, holds legal deposit status, meaning a copy of every work published in Britain must be preserved there. Among its holdings are several manuscripts of Navoi’s works, including both Turkic and Persian versions of the poem Layli and Majnun. Although the cataloging work was a collective effort by three scholars—Eduard Sachau, Hermann Ethé, and Alfred Biddulph Biston—the “Catalogue of the Persian, Turkish, Hindustani, and Pashto Manuscripts” (1889), mainly attributed to Hermann Ethé, contains reliable references to Navoi. The British Library in London, one of the largest libraries in Europe, holds more than 170 million items. Its collection includes early printed books (incunabula), ancient copies of the Quran, the Bible, and the Torah, scientific discovery documents, musical scores, maps, and newspapers. This vast library holds more than 20 manuscripts related to Alisher Navoi. Among them are Khamsa, Lison ut-Tayr, Mezon ul-Avzon, Majolis un-Nafois, and other treatises. Most of the manuscripts date from the 16th to 18th centuries and include works such as Layli and Majnun, Farhod and Shirin, as well as fragments from lyrical diwans. Notably, the catalogs compiled by Charles Rieu—considered the first Navoi scholar in England—are also preserved here: Catalogue of the Persian Manuscripts (1879–1883), Catalogue of the Turkish Manuscripts (1888), and Supplement to the Catalogue of the Arabic. The Navoi manuscripts in the British Library mainly originated from India, Iran, and Bukhara and were brought to England in the 19th century. Some manuscripts are decorated with miniatures and ornamentation, making 42 each of them a valuable resource for art, literature, and history. The Cambridge University Library is also considered one of the key academic resource centers in England. It holds Eastern manuscripts, including several works by Navoi among the Turkic literary materials. These are mostly in the form of literary anthologies (tazkiras), including Persian translations of Majolis un-Nafois. The library also contains commentary and articles by Orientalists about Navoi. In Edward Granville Browne’s A Descriptive Catalogue of the Persian Manuscripts, Navoi’s works are described in many instances. Although the catalog is based on Persian literature and manuscripts, it includes discussions about Navoi and his influence on Persian literature.