The text is in the old Samaritan characters still in use by a remnant of this Jewish sect in Nâblus, the ancient Sichem, in Palestine. Our information in regard to the date is derived from a cryptogram at the beginning of Deuteronomy, composed of single letters selected from successive lines of text and so arranged as to form a central column, one letter above the other. It reads: "I, Abraham, son of Israel, son of Abraham, son of Joseph the prince, king of Israel, have written this copy of the Holy Law for myself in the name of my son in the year 629 of the Ishmaelites, which is 3200 years after the Children of Israel settled in the land of Canaan and 5993 years after the creation of the world." The Samaritan Jews claim to be descendants of the ten tribes, to possess the orthodox religion of Moses, and to have transmitted their Pentateuch with the utmost care as to the letter of the text from the time of Nehemiah, i. e., about 432 B. C. If this be so, we have here at least an approximation of the original Samaritan Pentateuch as received from the Jews after Ezra's reforms of 444 B. C., and the earliest external witness to the Hebrew text.

Two manuscripts, on paper, give illustrations of Syriac writing of the thirteenth or fourteenth century and of the nineteenth. The earlier manuscript is a copy of the Evangelistarium, i. e., the four gospels, arranged in lessons of the Jacobite (Monophysite) Syrian Church. The text is largely that of the revision made by Thomas of Heraclea, bishop of Mabug in Mesopotamia in 66 A. D. The manuscript is written in the Estrangela Syriac characters of the eighth or ninth century. It was given by a Syrian priest at Mosul to Dr. Asahel Grant, missionary to the Nestorians, in May, 1842, and by him presented to the American Bible Society in 1843. The later manuscript is a collection of charms to cure disease and contains some very curious illustrations in colors.

Ethiopic writing is represented by an amulet roll, on vellum, containing magical prayers and several pictures in colors; and by a Psalter and Manual of prayers, both on vellum, of the seventeenth and eighteenth century respectively. Accompanying the Psalter is an old leather travelling case into which the book was put and then slung over the back and carried from place to place.

A single Armenian manuscript shows writing of the eighteenth century in that language. It contains philosophical treatises and a commentary on the New Testament written in a fine regular hand.

The third case is devoted to manuscripts in Arabic, Turkish, and Persian. The oldest of these are three fragments of the Koran in Arabic in old Kufic and Neshki characters. All three are on vellum and date from the eighth to the eleventh century. Other exhibits, on paper, include illuminated manuscripts of the Koran, a collection of Mohammedan prayers, and writings concerning the prophet. Of special interest among the Arabic manuscripts is the Anwar al-Tanzil (The lights of revelation), a commentary on the Koran. The text, on the opening pages, is written in white ink on a background of full gold and surrounded by borders of the most delicate frets and tracery in pale

blue, green, and other colors. The execution of this manuscript was completed in 976 A. H., 1568 A. D. The binding is of colored and gilded leather cut out by hand. From Persia the book was brought by Mr. S. G. W. Benjamin, at one time minister from the United States to that country, and presented to the Astor Library in 1885 by Mr. John Jacob Astor. Two Persian manuscripts, of the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries, are also fine specimens of oriental art in illumination and binding. The first is the story of the two Bedouin lovers, Layla and Majnun, by the celebrated Persian poet Nūr al-Din 'Abd al-Rahman Jami. The text is written in a beautiful Nastalik script obliquely across a small strip of colored paper that is inlaid in the middle of the page. The borders are tinted in delicate shades and the illumination is heightened throughout with gold. There are thirty-nine numbered folios and six numbered full-page miniatures. Of the miniatures the first four are signed "Work of Mahmud," and the last two “Work of Khoja Nakkāsh.” The whole was written by the well-known calligrapher Sultan ‘Ali Meshhedi, called the "Sultan of calligraphers," who died in the year 919 A. H., 1513 A. D. This manuscript was formerly in the library of the Mogul Emperors at Delhi and bears the stamp of Shah Akbar and Shah Jahan. It was brought from the East by Mr. Benjamin and given by Mr. John Jacob Astor in 1885 to the Astor Library. The second Persian manuscript, the “Shāh-nāma" or Book of Kings, written by Firdousī, is a series of heroic poems containing the history of Persia from the earliest times up to the conquest of that empire by the Arabs. It contains four illuminated opening pages and sixtysix miniatures and is bound in the modern Indian decorative style.

A characteristic form of writing as practised in India and adjoining countries is seen in the palm leaf manuscripts in the next case. Seven such manuscripts are shown. The languages represented are Sinhalese, Tamil, and Pāli, in Burmese and Cambodian script. The Pāli manuscripts are all selections, more or less lengthy, from the sacred books of Pāli literature. Perhaps the most beautiful of these is one written on lacquered leaves in square Burmese characters quite different from the other examples of Burmese script. The Tamil manuscript is a small dictionary of that language, and the Sinhalese, an ethical poem known as the Lovedasangarava. In most of these manuscripts the characters are scratched on the dry palm leaves with a style and in some cases made clearer afterwards by coloring. The leaves are then tied together in sections between wooden boards and commonly lettered with gilt and decorative marking-sticks. With these manuscripts are shown the coverings in which they are preserved in one case, a box, painted with a floral design; in another, a wrapper of soft figured India silk; and in a third, a papier maché bottle.

Two manuscripts-long pieces of paper folded into leaves show the development of book-making among the Siamese. The paper of one of these has been colored black and the text written in yellow ink; the paper of the other has been left in its original state and is painted with pictures in bright colors.