Object size: Open: L39.7 cm x W22 cm x H4.4 cm
This Qur’an unlike the others is printed, not handwritten. Unusually, the text is in Arabic as well as Latin. This publication was prepared by a theologian named Abraham Hinckelmann, from Hamburg, north Germany. This is the second earliest printed edition of the Qur’an, the first was printed in Venice in 1537/8. These early Qur’ans printed in Europe were produced for comparison with Christianity (theological study) and also for political reasons. The Russian Tsarina Catherine the Great had in 1787, printed Qur’ans as a gesture of religious tolerance to her Turkish Muslim subjects. Printing only became widespread in the Islamic world from the early 19th century onwards. Today of course, the printed Qur’an is the one that most Muslims can afford to own.
