Encounters of Islam

The items curated for this exhibit reflect western voices of travelers to countries on the Asian and African continents. Significantly, two of the accounts are written by women, lending the reader a perspective from visitors in a time and place where gender segregation may have provided these writers access that their male counterparts likely did not share.

The lens through which new places, faces, customs, and ways of life are examined in these books is reflected in the way the writers describe the "religion of Mahommed," its followers, and their environs as "illustrated on scientific principles."   

Exploring the library's collection for these items made clear what voices are missing from the collection in terms of accounts of these places and eras. While the research value of the curated accounts cannot be overlooked, a larger lens would be available to researchers if indigenous voices from Egypt, India, etc. were part of the collection.