QUR'AN.

Inquire · Offered by Peter Harrington

Printed miniature version. An attractive early edition of this "almost legendary" (Bondy) miniature Qur'an published by David Bryce. Carried as an amulet by Muslim soldiers, bought by pilgrims in Mecca, and known to Lawrence of Arabia, the photolithographed Bryce Qur'an was the earliest produced in Europe to bring the centuries-old tradition of miniature Qur'ans from manuscript into print.Bryce's miniature Qur'ans were produced in Glasgow from c. 1896 to 1908 for the Muslim market in Europe, the Indian subcontinent, East Africa, and the Middle East. They were printed on India paper produced by Oxford University Press, and initially sold with a metal locket. "Pocket-sized octagonal Qur'ans were lithographed at Hyderabad between 1872 and 1875, and between 1889 and 1890, likely in India or Turkey, but these editions were neither as diminutive nor as finely produced as the 'Mite Koran', and did not achieve the roaring commercial success of their Glaswegian competitor" (McBurney, p. 254).

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