Chester Beatty Library

Chester Beatty
Entrance of the Chester Beatty, Dublin, Ireland
Interactive fullscreen map
Former nameChester Beatty Library
Established1953
LocationDublin Castle, Dublin
Coordinates53°20′31″N 6°16′01″W / 53.342°N 6.267°W / 53.342; -6.267
TypeArt Museum, library, Visitor Attraction
Collections
The Chester Beatty is Ireland’s leading museum of world cultures, caring for and sharing an extraordinary collection of manuscripts, rare books, miniature paintings and other decorative objects that are of world importance. With collections from Europe, the Middle East and across Asia, the role of the museum is unique in Ireland’s cultural landscape.
Collection size
approx 25,000
Visitors530,000 (2024)
FounderSir Alfred Chester Beatty
Public transit access
Luas, Dublin Bus, DART
Websitechesterbeatty.ie

The Chester Beatty Library (Irish: Leabharlann Chester Beatty), now known as the Chester Beatty, is a museum and library in the grounds of Dublin Castle, Ireland. It was established in 1953 to house the collections of mining magnate Sir Alfred Chester Beatty. It won the European Museum of the Year award in 2002.

The Chester Beatty is one of the premier sources for scholarship in both the Old and New Testaments and is home to one of the most significant collections of historical artefacts and manuscripts from all over the world. The museum also offers numerous temporary exhibitions, many of which include works of art on loan from foreign institutions and collections. The museum contains a number of priceless objects, including one of the surviving volumes of the first illustrated Life of the Prophet and the Gospel of Mani, one of the last surviving Manichaean scriptures. Many manuscripts from the Medinet Madi library are currently held at the Chester Beatty.

History

The library/museum was established in 1953 at its original location of 20 Shrewsbury Road in Dublin 4. As of 1995, work was underway at the Clock Tower Building of Dublin Castle in preparation for the relocation there of the Chester Beatty Library. The relocation was "expected to cost approximately £5.5 million" which was planned to be sourced from a "mixture of National Plan funds for the cultural institutions and direct Exchequer funding."

A statement from the Department of Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht at the time said that it was expected that the relocation of the library to the Dublin Castle site "would significantly increase its exposure to the public and in the process maximise the cultural, educational and tourism potential of this priceless collection of manuscripts, paintings and other works of art". The museum opened at its new location on 7 February 2000, the 125th anniversary of Beatty's birth.

Endowment

Writing in the journal Museum Ireland in 1995, academic and museum director Pat Cooke wrote of the paradox in the Beatty endowment:

There is an irony. Wealthy men, not otherwise renowned for their generosity, made such institutions the singular outlet of a profligate generosity. The Carnegie Libraries and our own Chester Beatty Library are remarkable examples of aberrant behaviour on the part of otherwise ruthless capitalists. Needless to say, they saw in these grand gestures a form of self reflecting glory.

Galleries

The museum's collections are displayed in two galleries: "Sacred Traditions" and "Arts of the Book". Both displays exhibit manuscripts, miniature paintings, prints, drawings, rare books and some decorative arts from the Persian, Islamic, East Asian and Western Collections.

Collections

Western Collections

The Western Collection houses many illuminated manuscripts, rare books and Old Master prints and drawings. With biblical texts written in Armenian, Church Slavonic, Coptic, Ge’ez, Greek, Latin and Syriac, the collection's Christian material comes from diverse cultural and geographical backgrounds. The papyrus codices in the Chester Beatty include Papyrus 45 and Papyrus 46 among others which are some of the earliest surviving Christian artefacts in the world. In addition, a significant proportion of the rare printed books and prints are also Christian in focus. The collection of papyri is one of the most extensive in the world and includes almost the entire corpus of Ancient Egyptian Love Songs.

Islamic Collections

The Islamic Collection is divided between the Arabic, Persian, Turkish, Qur'an and Mughal-Era Indian Collections. The Arabic texts include treatises on religion, history, jurisprudence, medicine, geography, mathematics, astronomy and linguistics. Some of the finest miniatures from imperial Mughal albums, called Muraqqa', are housed in the Chester Beatty Library, with important paintings from the Late Shah Jahan Album and the Minto Album. The albums were the subject of an exhibition and publication by the Islamic curator, Dr Elaine Wright, Muraqqa': Imperial Albums of the Chester Beatty Library. Often on display is the Ibn al-Bawwab Qur'an, copied by one of the greatest medieval Islamic calligraphers.

Persian Collection

The Persian collection contains various miniatures and manuscripts of classical Persian poets such as Ferdowsi and Nizami.

East Asian Collections

The East Asian Collection has one of the most extensive collections of carved snuff bottles, many of which were included in the catalogue, The Chester Beatty Library, Dublin: Chinese Snuff Bottles. It also has Japanese art, including a pair of long picture-scrolls painted in the 17th century by Kanō Sansetsu.

Collection highlights

Source:

Arabic collection

Armenian collection

Biblical papyri collection

Burmese collection

Chinese collection

Coptic collection

Egyptian Papyrus collection

Ethiopian collection

Hebrew collection

Indian collection

Indian (non-Mughal) collection

Islamic collection

Japanese collection

Papyrus collection

Persian collection

Syriac collection

Thai collection

Tibetan collection

Turkish collection

Western collection

Western Miscellaneous collection

Western Prints and Drawings collection

Others

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Clare Pollard (1 September 2000). "The Chester Beatty Library and its East Asian Collections". Antiquity. Archived from the original on 17 May 2011. Retrieved 21 March 2008 – via HighBeam Research.
  2. 1 2 Brian Lavery (17 July 2002). "Arts Abroad; An Irish Castle for Religious Manuscripts". The New York Times. Retrieved 21 March 2008.
  3. ↑ "In the beginning was the Word: Chester Beatty Library - Catholicireland.netCatholicireland.net". www.catholicireland.net. Retrieved 29 August 2026.
  4. ↑ Elizabeth Hutcheson (3 December 2006). "Chester Beatty Library: Magnificent Collection of Islamic and Far Eastern Artefacts". Mathaba News Network. Archived from the original on 13 May 2015. Retrieved 21 March 2008.
  5. ↑ "Priceless Ancient Text Reassembled". BBC News. 12 July 2001. Retrieved 21 March 2008.
  6. ↑ "Thrilling Messages from a Shared Past". The Irish Times. 6 January 2007. Retrieved 21 March 2008.
  7. ↑ Robinson, James M. (2015). The Manichaean Codices of Medinet Madi. Cambridge: James Clarke & Company. ISBN 978-0-227-90389-6.
  8. ↑ Beduhn, Jason D.; Dilley, Paul; Gardner, Iain (2023). The Medinet Madi Library of Manichaean Codices at 90: Papers from the Symposium at the Chester Beatty Library in Dublin, 18-19 October 2019. Nag Hammadi and Manichaean Studies. Vol. 104. Leiden: Brill. ISBN 978-90-04-53982-2.
  9. ↑ "Chester Beatty Story". Chester Beatty. Retrieved 2 April 2023.
  10. 1 2 3 "Museum Ireland. Vol. 5" (PDF). irishmuseums.org. 5. Irish Museums Association / Cumann Mhúsaeim na hÉireann: 57. 1 September 1995. ISSN 0961-9690. Retrieved 12 November 2026.
  11. ↑ Cooke, Pat (1 September 1995). "Museum Ireland. Vol. 5" (PDF). irishmuseums.org. 5. Irish Museums Association / Cumann Mhúsaeim na hÉireann: 29. ISSN 0961-9690. Retrieved 12 November 2026.
  12. ↑ "Castle is Fitting Home for Beatty Treasures". The Irish Times. 3 February 2000. Retrieved 21 March 2008.
  13. ↑ "Christianity | Explore the Collections". Chester Beatty. Retrieved 25 March 2020.
  14. ↑ A Catalogue of the Persian Manuscripts and Miniatures Archived 3 August 2019 at the Wayback Machine Chester Beatty
  15. ↑ Ireland and Japan cooperate in Preservation of Ancient ArtworksBy Shane McCausland, Curator of the East Asian Collections Archived 29 October 2013 at the Wayback Machine Ireland Embassy in Japan
  16. ↑ These are collection highlights according to museum site "Chester Beatty Explore". Chester Beatty. (at least those, which have image in Wikimedia commons)