Chester Beatty
Library
this library was started in Dublin, Ireland in
1950 to house and preserve the fabulous collection of mining
king, Sir Alfred Chester Beatty, and sits on the grounds of the
Dublin Castle, and opened in 2000, the 125th anniversary of Sir
Alfred's birth and would become the European Museum of the Year
in 2002. Its collections are separated into two collections and
called, "artistic traditions" and "sacred traditions". Both of
these collections contain drawings, miniature paintings,
manuscripts, rare books prints and numerous decorative arts from
the Western, Islamic and East Asian collection. It has become
one of the finest resources for scholarship in the old and new
testaments, as well as housing one of the most important
collections of Far Eastern and Islamic relics; and houses some
priceless objects that include the Gospel of Mani that is
thought to be the last surviving relic from Manichaeism and the
first illustrated Life of the Prophet. Their western collections
contain many illuminated manuscripts, old master prints and
drawings and rare books. Their papyri collection is one of the
most inclusive in the world and contains a corpus of Ancient
Egyptian love songs that is almost complete. It is a magnificent
collection as are the rest, making this one of the most
prestigious museums in Europe.
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