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| Established | 1953 |
|---|---|
| Location | Dublin Castle, Dublin |
| Coordinates | 53°20′31″N 6°16′1″W / 53.34194°N 6.26694°W |
| Type | Art Museum, Library, Visitor Attraction |
| Key holdings | Chester Beatty Papyri |
| Collections | East Asian, Islamic, Western |
| Collection size | approx 25,000 |
| Visitors | 350,000 (2018) |
| Founder | Sir Alfred Chester Beatty |
| Public transit access | Luas, Dublin Bus, DART |
| Website | chesterbeatty.ie |
The Chester Beatty Library, now known as the Chester Beatty, is a museum and library in Dublin. It was established in Ireland in 1953,[1] to house the collections of mining magnate, Sir Alfred Chester Beatty.[2] The present museum, on the grounds of Dublin Castle, opened on 7 February 2000, the 125th anniversary of Beatty's birth and was named European Museum of the Year in 2002.[3]
The museum's collections are displayed in two galleries: "Sacred Traditions" and "Arts of the Book". Both displays exhibit manuscripts, miniature paintings, prints, drawings, rare books and some decorative arts from the Persian, Islamic, East Asian and Western Collections.[4] The Chester Beatty is one of the premier sources for scholarship in both the Old and New Testaments and is home to one of the most significant collections of Western, Islamic and East & South East Asian artefacts.[5] The museum also offers numerous temporary exhibitions, many of which include works of art on loan from foreign institutions and collections. The museum contains a number of priceless objects, including one of the surviving volumes of the first illustrated Life of the Prophet and the Gospel of Mani, one of the last surviving Manichaean scriptures.[6][7] Many manuscripts from the Medinet Madi library are currently held at the Chester Beatty Library.[8][9]
- ^ "Chester Beatty Story". Chester Beatty. Retrieved 2 April 2023.
- ^ Clare Pollard (1 September 2000). "The Chester Beatty Library and its East Asian Collections". Antiquity. Archived from the original on 17 May 2011. Retrieved 21 March 2008.
- ^ Brian Lavery (17 July 2002). "Arts Abroad; An Irish Castle for Religious Manuscripts". The New York Times. Retrieved 21 March 2008.
- ^ "Castle is Fitting Home for Beatty Treasures". The Irish Times. 3 February 2000. Retrieved 21 March 2008.
- ^ Elizabeth Hutcheson (3 December 2006). "Chester Beatty Library: Magnificent Collection of Islamic and Far Eastern Artefacts". Mathaba News Network. Archived from the original on 13 May 2015. Retrieved 21 March 2008.
- ^ "Priceless Ancient Text Reassembled". BBC News. 12 July 2001. Retrieved 21 March 2008.
- ^ "Thrilling Messages from a Shared Past". The Irish Times. 6 January 2007. Retrieved 21 March 2008.
- ^ Robinson, James M. (2015). The Manichaean Codices of Medinet Madi. Cambridge: James Clarke & Company. ISBN 978-0-227-90389-6.
- ^ Beduhn, Jason D.; Dilley, Paul; Gardner, Iain (2023). The Medinet Madi Library of Manichaean Codices at 90: Papers from the Symposium at the Chester Beatty Library in Dublin, 18-19 October 2019. Nag Hammadi and Manichaean Studies. Vol. 104. Leiden: Brill. ISBN 978-90-04-53982-2.