The manuscript London British Library Or. 6636 contains a Hebrew translation of the Qur’an, identified as the work of Jacob ben Israel ha-Levi. This version is based on the Italian translation printed in Venice in 1547. The manuscript is dated from the 17th or 18th centuries and consists of 134 paper leaves written in Italian square script. A significant aspect of the current research involves the physical state of the document, as the writing on many folios is blurred or faded.
The manuscript exhibits significant degradation due to advanced ink corrosion. The acidic nature of the ink has caused structural damage to the paper fibers which reduced the legibility in various sections. In addition, modern conservation measures and tentative repairs with pasts and adhesives have contributed to further degradation. Image enhancement tools are therefore necessary to recover and read the damages passages. Many folios, however, remain perfectly legible and well preserved.
Digital copy available at Jerusalem NLI