Alexandria Municipal Library Collection
The Alexandria Municipal Library is one of the oldest public libraries in Egypt. It opened for the public a century ago, in particular in 1892. From that time on, its content has vastly developed to include thousands of books, periodicals and manuscripts. Its manuscript collection amounting to six thousand (though the official number is two thousand less!) renders it the richest manuscript library in Alexandria. The content has gradually increased due to the donations that continued for six successive decades. The largest collection that has ever come into the possession of the Municipal Library of Alexandria is the collection of Ibrahim Pasha (foster son of Muhammad 'Ali Pasha and the General of his army). We have come to this conclusion after the examination of the total content of the library, as it appeared that more than 1200 manuscripts bear the signature and sometimes the seal (ex libirs) of Ibrahim Pasha, always written in the formula: Ibrahim Sar'askar (the title of general in the army of the Ottoman Empire). As for the rest of the manuscripts, neither they nor the records of the Municipal Library include bear any reference to the donators!