One of the things that really entrances me on our travels is seeing old manuscripts and books. For example in Turkey, you can find hand painted pages from old Islamic texts in some antique and gift shops. We have bought a couple of them on our travels there, and I love the delicacy of these images.

As part of my online collection of interesting articles and research, I have a list of books that feature stunning illustrations. Where possible I have purchased reproductions of the texts. Here is a small sample of some of the books I would love to own.

Kitab al-Bulhan

TheKitab al-Bulhan or Book of Wonders, is an Arabic manuscript dating mainly from the late 14th century A.D. and probably bound together in Baghdad during the reign of Jalayirid Sultan Ahmad (1382-1410). It featuresastrological, astronomical and geomantic texts with full-page illustrations.

Book of Kells

Seeing…