The Chester Beatty Library moved from secluded Shrewsbury Road and re-opened on 7 February 2000 in its new state-of-the-art home in and behind the Clock Tower building at Dublin Castle. Alfred Chester Beatty (1875 - 1968), a New York born mining millionaire, purchased over his lifetime a remarkable collection of precious material from the Middle and Far East.

Living much of his later life in Dublin and becoming Ireland's first Honorary Citizen in 1957 he decided to leave the results of his life's work to the nation. The Collection, now arranged within themes through a series of excitingly laid-out exhibition rooms, is considered to be one of the most important of its kind in the world.

Certainly the Library of Qur'ans (Korans), dating from the 9^th century, is said to be second only to the Topkapi Collection in Istanbul. The outstanding exhibits also include Babylonian clay tablets from 2700BC, ancient Egyptian papyri, some of the earliest known Gospel texts from pre-200AD, Chinese jade books, miniature paintings from the courts of India's Mughal emperors, Chinese snuff boxes, illuminated Persian manuscripts, European medieval and renaissance manuscripts and other objets d'art from across Asia, the Middle East, North Africa and Europe.

Check out the Current Exhibitions listing.

For further information, visit  www.cbl.ie

 
Chester Beatty Library,
Dublin Castle,
Dublin 2.
Tel: (+353 1) 407 0750
Email: info@cbl.ie

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