Dear Sirs,

I have an honor to present you Manuscripta Orientalia. International Journal for Oriental Manuscript Research. It began in 1995 and is an English-language quarterly containing 72 pages. It is the first and only international journal entirely dedicated to issues of Oriental textology, comparative codicology, and palaeography. It regularly features articles by scholars who work with sources in Oriental languages and manuscripts preserved in the rich collections of the St. Petersburg Branch of die Institute of Oriental Studies, St. Petersburg State University, the National Library of Russia, and the Hermitage. The journal also acquaints its readers with materials on little-known collections of Oriental manuscripts from various museums and academic centers in Russia and the countries of the former USSR. It serves as a forum for the research of colleagues in the United States, Germany, Norway, Holland, Italy, Czech Republic, France and Japan, as well as the countries of the former USSR.

The death of Finnish co-publisher as well as banking crises in Russia of 1998 have been two blows which had seriously undermined the financial basis of our journal. Only the enthusiasm of the scholars who are working in the journal nearly free of charge made it possible to continue publication in 1998 – 1999. As in the cases of nearly all similar scholarly journals subscription covers only 60% of necessary production costs and now we are trying to find an institution which could help us to find scholarly grant, sponsor or co-publisher of the journal. USD 10000 is necessary to continue the publication.

We’ll greatly appreciate any support which could help Manuscripta Orientalia and its readers and be really glad to answer any of your questions.

Yours sincerely,

Dr. Efim Rezvan

Editor-in-Chief,

Manuscripta Orientalia, International Journal for Oriental Manuscript Research

Deputy Director,

Dr. Michael Carter, Arabic studies, University of Oslo, Norway:

"This is probably the only forum in hard copy where topics of art history and the most recent advances in communications technology can come together. To the extent that the visual arts are an exploitation of the traditional media it is of fundamental importance to be able to discuss and interpret them by using contemporary theories and models of communication. Within the general topic of the transmission of information the journal offers a unique platform for the exchange of ideas on the function of manuscripts".

Prof. Tapani Harviainen, University of Helsinki, Finland (Hebrew studies):

"It has been a real pleasure to observe the permanently high level of the Manuscripta Orientalia with respect to both the external beauty of the volumes and the scholar quality of the contents, in particular. the extensive range of topics has also aroused my positive attention. I hope indeed that the good co-operation between St. Petersburg and Helsinki will continue to offer similar delightful fruits to the lovers of Orient all over the world".

Prof. Dr. Georges-Jean Pinault, Ecole Pratique des Hautes E tudes, Paris, France (Central Asian studies):

"Le pe riodique Manuscripta Orientalia procure des services exceptionnels a tous les orientalistes, car il contient des informations de premiere main sur des documents rares et ine dits, avec l’appui de commentaires pre cis et d’illustrations remarquables".

Prof. Dr. Malachi Beit-Arie , Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Head of the Hebrew Palaeography Project, Jerusalem Israel (Hebrew studies):

"My congratulations with "Manuscripta"!

Prof. Dr. Akira Yuyama, Head of the Chair of Buddhist Sanskrit Philology at Soka University, Director of the International Research Institute for Advanced Buddhology (IRIAB), Tokyo, Japan (Buddhology):

Efim A. Rezvan (St. Petersburg), Editor-in-Chief,
Irina Ye. Petrosyan (St. Petersburg), Deputy Editor-in-Chief,
Edward N. Tyomkin (St. Petersburg), Editor,
Margarita I. Vorobyova-Desyatovskaya (St. Petersburg), Editor

Daniel Kimmage (St. Petersburg), English Editor

Maria E. Rezvan (St. Petersburg), Executive Officer

Advisory Board

Oleg Akimushkin (St. Petersburg) — Malachi Beit-Arie (Jerusalem) —
Stefano Carboni (New York) — Ronald Emmerick (Hamburg) —
Boris Gidaspov (St. Petersburg) — Franchesca von Habsburg (Lugano) —
Tapani Harviainen (Helsinki) — Gyorgy Kara (Budapest) — Anas Khalidov (St. Petersburg) —
Evgenij Kychanov (St. Petersburg) — Jan Mayer (Frankfurt/M) — Lev Menshikov (St. Petersburg) —
Tatsuo Nishida (Kyoto) — Yuri A. Petrosyan (St. Petersburg) — Giovanni Stary (Venezia)

Technical Editor

Anna Zhogina (St. Petersburg)

Photography

Svetlana Shevelchinskaya and Elena Denissova (St. Petersburg)

© Copyright 1999 by Thesa, Russia

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission of the publisher.

Subscription orders may be made directly to the publisher — Thesa, 14 Dobrolyubov Str., office 358, 197198 St. Petersburg, Russia (Tel./Fax: + 7 (812) 238 9594; e-mail: [email protected]).

Subscription orders are accepted for complete volumes only, orders taking effect with the first issue of any year. Claims for replacement of damaged issues or of issues lost in transit should be made within ten months after the appearance of the relevant issue and will be met if stocks permit. Back issues are available.

For further information and subscription forms, please, visit our web site under: http://orient.thesa.ru