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Chester Beatty Library

Permanent Exhibitions

Sacred Traditions

The Sacred Traditions Gallery on the second floor exhibits the sacred texts, illuminated manuscripts and miniature paintings from the great religions and systems of belief represented in the collections - Christianity, Islam and Buddhism with smaller displays on Confucianism, Daoism, Sikhism and Jainism.

The Biblical Papyri, the remarkable collection of Qur'an manuscripts and scrolls and books of Buddhist thought provide the focus for the displays.

Audio-visual programmes on Rites of Passage in many faiths, prayer and pilgrimage enhance the displays.

For further information on the Library's collections, please click here. For information on temporary exhibitions, please click here.
 

Arts of the Book


This exhibition is temporarily closed to accommodate three major exhibitions in 2010. Arts of the Book will be fully reinstated in Spring 2011.

Click here for a TV review of this exhibition and click here to listen to a radio interview.

Arts of the Book, a new permanent exhibition of the Library's collections, opened in the first floor gallery in 2008.  Here, visitors can view books from the ancient world including the world famous Chester Beatty Love Poems (c.1160 BC), Egyptian Books of the Dead and beautifully illuminated medieval European manuscripts and fine European printed books, as well as Old Master prints. The exhibition also explores the richness of the Islamic manuscript tradition - illustrations and illuminations, calligraphy, and exquisite bindings from across the Middle East and India are on display. Highlights from East Asia include one of the finest collections of Chinese jade books in the world, Japanese picture-scrolls depicting fables and legends, and deluxe woodblock prints. Audio-visual programmes complement the exhibition, helping the visitor to learn more about the arts of the book throughout the world.