Collecting area: Religion

Background

4to, 237 x 170 mm., 53 leaves, the complete Juzʾ (جزء) Qāla ʾalam (قال ألم) (XVI), containing text from the 18th Sūrah, Sūrat al-Kahf (ٱلْكَهْف), beginning with verse 57, up until the 20th Sūrah, Sūrah Ṭāʾ Hāʾ (طه), verse 135. This manuscript was likely part of a 30 volume section, sometimes copied into independent volumes. Each subsection, or Juzʾ, is a complete section of the Qurʾān itself. For manuscripts of this style, the Qurʾān is usually divided into 30 equal-length Juzʾ sections in order to preserve not only the whole work, but to produce a manuscript in a legible font, a manuscript that is not too large, and one that can be illuminated elegantly. This style of division is most popular in North Africa. 

This manuscript is an example of a Baḥrī Mamlūk Sulṭānate (1250-1382 CE/648-784 AH) Qurʾānic Juzʾ. The Baḥrī Mamlūks (al-Mamalik al-Baḥariyyah, المماليك البحرية), sometimes referred to as the Baḥrī dynasty, were the rulers of the Mamlūk Sultanate of Egypt following the earlier Ayyubid dynasty. These rulers were of Kipchaq Turkish origin, and their name, “Mamlūk,” derives from the Arabic word mamlūk (مملوك, plural mamālīk, مماليك), literally meaning “owned person/slave.” The Baḥrī component of their name comes from their connection to the Nile River. Baḥrī literally means “of the river,”  and refers to the location of their original barracks on Roda Island in the Nile (Nahr al-Nīl, نهر النيل) in Cairo, at the citadel of Ar-Rawdah which was built by the Ayyubid sultan aṣ-Ṣaliḥ Ayyūb. This particular manuscript was likely made for a wealthy member of the Baḥrī Mamlūk court.

The chapters (sūwar, سور, sing. sūrah,  سورة) include passages related to Maryam and ʿĪsā (Mary and Jesus), God’s call to Mūsā ibn ʿImrān (Moses), the Exodus of the Israelites and the crossing of the Red Sea. 

Contents of Collection

Text is in a single column throughout the manuscript, with 7 lines of fine scribal muḥaqqaq (محقَّق) script in black. Vocalization marks are in red. As is standard, all ḥarakāt  (حركات), i.e., diacritics, are provided to ensure proper pronunciation. The opening two pages feature text blocks framed with gold borders, each containing rectangular panels at the top with headings in white muḥaqqaq against blue, green, and orange arabesque designs. Likewise, there are three circular floral medallions extending into the margins on each side. Additionally, there is a recto of the first leaf with a large circular device heightened in gold with decorative rays extending outwards. Two of the Sūrah headings are illuminated in the text, each with white thuluth (ثلث) text against gold polychrome banners, with a circular device extending into the outer margins. Verses are marked throughout with gold roundels, each decorated with red and blue. The covers of the manuscript are in leather, with large medallions on each cover. These medallions contain floral imagery, which has been pressed into the leather. The border around each cover is in gold, with a swirling pattern surrounding the medallion. 

Some spotting can be found throughout the text, along with some smudging. Some page corners have been damaged, and wormholes appear on some pages without disrupting the text itself. Some of the paint has faded or scuffed since the manuscript’s creation. On occasion, spacing between words and letters is reduced to fit into the margins of the manuscript. Because of this, reading is ever so slightly impaired for certain verses. Lastly, there is additional commentary or notes toward the end of the manuscript. This text is in much smaller, black handwriting, notably different from the calligraphy of the Qurʾānic text.

Processing Information

Processed by Andrew Bielecki, May 2024.

Established within the Wilburite Rhode Island Quarterly Meeting in 1844, the Rhode Island Monthly Meeting (Wilburite) was a small product of the Separation of 1844-1945 within the New England Yearly Meeting of Friends. By 1863, the men’s meeting had declined to such an extent that only a single member remained, and therefore for a year, join meetings were held with the women’s meeting. The meeting was laid down in April 1864, with members transferring to Providence Monthly Meeting (Wilburite), although a handful of members rejected the decision to disband and continued to meet through the end of the year.

This small collection contains a nearly comprehensive minutes for the men’s and women’s meetings of the Rhode Island Monthly Meeting (Wilburite), along with a volume of records of births, marriages, and deaths.

Following the Wilburite separation in the New England Yearly Meeting of Friends in 1845, the Wilburite “smaller body” reconstituted the structure of the Quaker church. The Rhode Island Quarterly Meeting was formed after the split overseeing four monthly meetings in Rhode Island and one in Massachusetts, most of which were relatively short lived.

The records of the Wilburite Rhode Quarterly Meeting include a relatively complete set of minutes and thorough documentation of the Ministers and Elders.

Meetings for Quaker worship began in Richmond, N.H., as early as 1766. Situated in a small town on the border of Massachusetts, the new meeting was initially placed under the care of Smithfield Monthly meeting, transferring to Uxbridge Monthly in 1783. Having achieved a degree of stability, the meeting was set off as the Richmond Monthly Meeting in 1792, although it was laid down in 1850. Its remaining members were attached to Uxbridge Monthly Meeting.

The records of Richmond Monthly Meeting contain a complete set of minutes from both the men’s and women’s meetings, along with records or births, deaths, marriages, and transfers within the membership.

Moved by a vision in which he saw himself as the head of a new religion, Frank Bruce Robinson established Psychiana soon after moving to Moscow, Idaho, in 1928-1929. Once established, word about the religion spread quickly, primarily through advertisements Robinson placed in newspapers and magazines. Within the first year more than 600,000 students in 67 countries were receiving his printed lessons. Robinson’s launching of Psychiana could not have been better timed. The Great Depression provided a ready-made audience eager to grasp onto his message of “health, wealth, and prosperity” achieved by positive affirmations and self help.

This collection consists of 16 lessons in the Psychiana Advanced Course printed in 1932.

Founded as a Unitarian camp in 1924 for high school students and later adding a junior high component in 1947, the Rowe Camp and Conference Center now offers retreat programs in a variety of areas, including health care, exploration of rituals and dreams, astronomy, and workshops for families, couples, men and women.

This collection consists of newspaper clippings and the Rowe Conference Center and camp annual bulletin.

One of the small number of Wilburite quarterly meetings, the Salem and Dover Quarter was established in 1851 when the Salem Quarterly Meeting and Dover Quarterly Meeting were merged. It oversaw two Wilburite monthly meetings: Berwick, Maine, and Salem, Massachusetts. When Salem and Dover was laid down in 1881, its remaining members were transferred to Sandwich Monthly Meeting (Wilburite).

This small collection is comprised solely of a complete set of minute from the men’s quarterly meeting.

Conflict over doctrinal matters in the Salem Monthly Meeting of Friends was endemic in the first half of the nineteenth century, beginning with the New Light agitation after the War of 1812. With the Separation of 1845, a Wilburite monthly meeting was established there that persisted until 1863. Part of the Salem Quarterly Meeting (Wilburite) from 1845-1851 and Salem and Dover Quarterly (1851-1863), Salem Monthly’s remaining members were officially transferred to Berwick, however many members chose to join the Otisite (or Primitive) Nantucket Monthly Meeting instead. Their worship group lasted until about 1911.

The slender collection for the Salem Monthly Meeting of Friends (Wilburite) include complete minutes for both the men’s and women’s meetings.

Among the oldest Quaker quarterlies in the United States, Salem Quarterly Meeting of Friends began meetings for business in 1705. Over the years, two additional quarterlies have been set off from Salem: Falmouth in 1794 and Dover in 1815. Salem Quarter currently oversees ten monthly meetings, all in Massachusetts, however historically it included meetings in both Maine and New Hampshire.

The records of Salem Quarter are a fairly robust cross section of the activity of one of the oldest quarterlies in New England. The records are relatively richer for the eighteenth century and quite sparse for the mid-twentieth.

Methodist Clergyman; literary and religious scholar.

Correspondence, drafts of writings, notes for lectures and sermons, book reviews, course materials, class notes taken as a student, biographical material, and other papers, relating chiefly to Sander’s studies of English and religious literature, his teaching career at several colleges (including the University of Massachusetts) and church-related activities. Includes draft of an unpublished book on the Bible as literature; correspondence and organized material from his participation in Laymen’s Academy for Oecumenical Studies, Amherst Massachusetts (LAOS); and notebook of funeral records (1940-1957).