London, Apr 08th, 2011 (WAM)--His Highness Sheikh Dr. Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah, visited here on Thursday the British Library, one of the most important research centres in the world.
He was briefed during the tour about the rare books, manuscripts, photographs and graphics preserved nicely to maintain their history and valuable information to benefit humanity as a whole. Sheikh Sultan was accompanied during the tour to the library by Abdul Rahman Ghanem Al Mutaiwee, UAE Ambassador to the United Kingdom, Sheikh Mohammed bin Maktoum bin Rashid Al Maktoum, First Secretary at the UAE Embassy in the UK, Abdullah bin Mohammed Al Owais, Head of the Department of Culture and Information in Sharjah and Ahmed bin Rakad Al A'meri, Director of Sharjah Book Fair. Colin Baker, a member of the secretariat at the library, said the British Library maintains a series of remarkable ancient Arabic medical books, of which some talk about the importance of fruits.He referred to the existence of information and the comments written in Greek, speaking about the Arabic books, indicating that one of the oldest books was translated by the Arab astronomist and astrologist Abdul Rahman Sufi. Baker added that Sufi's manuscript has been preserved in the British Library.
Baker briefed the Ruler of Sharjah on exceptional group of books on the Arabian Gulf.
He offered to Sheikh Sultan the version of the manuscript that contains pages about the Convention on Sharjah dating back to the period 1900-1924, including a number of mail, news and the events during that period in the region. In a section devoted to theatre and Shakespeare, Sheikh Sultan was briefed about a book on Hamlet, which was printed on paper of luxury quality, printed in 1215 in Germany.Copyright Emirates News Agency (WAM) 2011.
