Correspondence between Aziz Atiya and E. A. Lowe regarding an Arabic Sinai manuscript

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/ ffh u VirsV D Aprll 17, 1964 Professor E. A. Lows The Institute for Advanced Study Princeton, New Jersey Dear Professor Lowe It was good to hear from you again concerning your problem of the Sinai Arabic 455. My own work published by the Johns Hopkins University Press is only a hand-list and does not include all the notes I have accumulated for a further Catalogue Raisonne of the whole collection. The •*~N Latin fly leaves are not in paper but in parchment while the rest of the ^ text is on paper. I remember them clearly as sturdy and somewhat light brownish parchment. The question of the migration of paper mills runs roughly as follows: Baghdad eighth century, Egypt ninth century, North Africa and Spain tenth century. As to the other question of external relationships, I can deduce from the colophons with a great measure of certainty that Sinai was closely connected with Palestine, but there is nothing to vouch for the suggestion that there was traffic between Sinai and North Africa. I shall be sur­prised if the provenance of the Psalter is proved to be North Africa. I am not surprised by the absence of many eastern saints from the Acta Sanctorum. While recently working on my forthcoming tome on the "History of Eastern Christianity," I stumbled over numerous saints from eastern terrains whose very names cannot be traced in the Bollandlst monumental compilation. Let me assure you that I regard it a privilege and a pleasure to be of some service to you in your learned pursuits. Please feel free to write me at your convenience, though I realize the modest nature of my contribution to your vast ocean of scholarship. With kindest remembrances and highest regards. Very sincerely, Aziz S. Atiya Director ASA/jvc