The Bulaq Press Exhibition at the Bibliotheca Alexandrina
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Alexandria, 24 May 2005—Under the auspices of H.E. Mrs. Suzanne Mubarak, First Lady of Egypt and Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Bibliotheca Alexandrina (BA), the BA is organizing the Bulaq Press exhibition, 2 June - 15 July 2005.
The Bulaq Press, brought to Egypt by Mohamed Aly in the early 19th century, is living evidence of a significant period in Egyptian history. It printed the earliest texts of several manuscripts by eminent Arab scholars. The Bibliotheca Alexandrina has undertaken the mission of re-introducing the Bulaq Press to people in Egypt and around the world.
Dr. Ismail Serageldin, Director of the Bibliotheca Alexandrina, announced that the exhibition includes the available machines of the Bulaq Press since the reign of Mohamed Aly in the early 19th century, which reflect the immense transformations that took place in Egypt, and the renaissance and development at that time. It also includes the foundation text and the renovation text of the Press during Khedive Tawfiq’s era, as well as the first issue of the newspaper Waka’e’ Misreya and the 1888 employees salary ledger. It was donated to the BA by the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Trade and Industry.
Organized within the framework of celebrating the reign of Mohamed Aly 200 years ago, the exhibition aims at highlighting the role of the press at that time in disseminating information through cultural and scientific publications about medicine, engineering, chemistry and literature.
A catalog is currently being prepared by the BA, which records the history of the Bulaq Press, and includes records of those who managed the Press till the present time, as well as records of its first and important publications.