MuseumThe Museum of Rare Books

The Museum of Rare Books of “Gylym Ordasy” State Enterprise was established in the year of 2010.
The Museum Fund includes a collection exceeding 500 rare books from national and foreign ancient manuscripts to manuscriptal and age-old books (i.e. published before the XVIIIth century) written using Arab, Latin and Cyrillic type and chronologically covering period from the XVIII-XIX centuries to the forties of the XXth century; and all being of historical and cultural and scientific significance.
The Museum sets itself a task to show, on example of unique editions, the path a book has gone through from first manuscripts to modern samples of printing art along with cultivation of love and respect for book being the most valuable monument of spiritual culture of all nations at all times. In addition, the Museum, as a center of propaganda of national book history and culture, does its best to attract attention of all book admirers in Almaty city.
Exposition named “Treasures from ancient times” presenting age-old books, first printed editions and outstanding public figures’ lifetime works and manuscripts, having a great value for historical and regional studies, is constantly opened in the Museum. Besides, collections of scientific books written by scholars who studied ethnography, literature and history of Kazakh nation are represented in the exhibition along with lifetime editions of famous writers of the XVIII-XIXth centuries.
Pieces of a new exposition on written culture of Kazakhstan are arranged in four basic sections using photographic and video materials:
• Ancient written heritage of Kazakh steppe
• Manuscripts as a heritage of centuries
• Early national editions
• Written and printed monuments of Kazakhstan
With a purpose of disclosing specific character and value of manuscriptal books as a source and base of historical, linguistic and ethnographic sciences and to make the Museum visitors acquainted with Kazakh manuscript traditions there was represented a collection of poems by great Abay Kunanbayev, Shakarim Kudaiberdiyev, Mashkhur Zhusup Kopeyev, Birzhan sal Koramysuly, Baluan Sholak and others in the Museum section named “Manuscripts as a heritage of centuries”.
Along with other rare manuscripts and books the Museum demonstrates as well a unique manuscript by Hajji Ahmed Yassawi named “Diwani Khikmet” (The Book of Wisdom). In contrast to other oriental authors who preached Islam Yassawi was writing his books in Turkic, i.e. in language that was most accessible to people of that epoch. The author used to constantly cite Kypchak proverbs, sayings and phrases, his “Diwani Khikmet” that reached our times was an outstanding collection of poems and verses highly evaluated and studied worldwide until now. In the XIX century the book was republished numerous times in Istanbul, Kazan and Tashkent.
First Kazakh printed editions ever are exhibited in the “Written and printed monuments of Kazakhstan” section. This exposition shows background and historical conditions preceding a start for national printed editions and history and life of first national newspapers.
The Museum of Rare Books arranges for university and college students and schoolchildren, on a systematical base, excursions, lections, consultations and thematic exhibitions connected with momentous events and memorable dates.