Alphonse Mingana, during his years in Iraq, collected an unparalleled number of ancient manuscripts in Syriac, Garshuni, and Arabic. These documents are now housed in the Woodbrooke Settlement, Selly Oak, Birmingham. This important collection of documents was catalogued by Mingana himself with descriptions of each manuscript, a summary of their contents, and notes. Carefully indexed, this catalogue is an essential resource for finding information on the primary documents of the collection. Difficult to acquire until now, this catalogue is the principal resource for navigating the Mingana Collection. Gorgias Press has subdivided this unwieldy collection into five convenient parts, each with a wealth of information. Included in the third, posthumous, volume is an appreciation of Mingana and a bibliography of his works. Syriac specialists will be pleased to have this unique guide to rare manuscripts readily available.
Alphonse Mingana (1878-1937) was an educator at the Chaldean Seminary in Iraq. He was also a priest in the Assyrian tradition and a collector of ancient manuscripts. He is renowned for his Mingana Collection (of which the present set is the catalogue), a set of nearly 3000 early Syrian and Arabic documents which he acquired and preserved. His rare volume of the writings of Narsai is also available from Gorgias Press. Mingana eventually immigrated to England, where he spent 17 years in Manchester continuing his work on Oriental Studies.
