A copy of Abu Nasr Al-Farabi’s manuscript
entitled ‘Introduction to the Field of Music’ has been published in Kazakhstan.
The work by the great thinker, philosopher and scholar includes the principles
of the music art, as well as the basic terms and categories of instruments and
melodies. It is noteworthy that domestic researchers found the original work by
Al-Farabi at the National Center for Manuscripts and Rare Books in the
Suleymaniye Library during a trip to Turkey. The work of the great scholar, published
in the 13th century and written in Arabic, comprises three parts and more than
240 pages.
“We have printed individual pages of this manuscript
on special Italian designer paper. After that, they were combined into
one block and sewn using the chain stitch method. For binding, we used 3 mm
thick cardboard and natural leather dyed in burgundy colour. When binding the
book, a special decorative design method was used, not only on the cover but
also on the spine. The frames of the book were painted in the same color as the
cover itself,” said
Zhanserik Beysenkulov, restorer
at the National Center for Manuscripts and Rare Books.
Specialists of the National Center for
Manuscripts and Rare Books made 11 research trips to nine countries of the
world as part of the ‘Archive-2025’ project, in particular, to the Czech
Republic, Germany, Russia, Turkey, Hungary, France, Iran, Egypt, Tatarstan and
Kyrgyzstan. In those countries they visited archives, museums and
libraries and brought copies of historical documents. At the moment, work is
underway to study those documents, perhaps they will shed light on many of the blank
pages in history.
