This account of rediscovered Islamic manuscrips reads like a Gothic tale of hidden documents. The general themes of forbidden texts and global religious crisis are fascinating of themselves, but even the details of the Munich documents feel Gothic, with a touch of technological history:
The Munich archive began with one of Mr. Nöldeke's protégés, Gotthelf Bergsträsser. As Germany slid towards fascism early last century, he hunted down old copies of the Quran in the Middle East, North Africa and Europe. He took photographs of them with a Leica camera.
In 1933, a few months after Hitler became chancellor, Mr. Bergsträsser, an experienced climber, died in the Bavarian Alps. His body was never given an autopsy; rumors spread of suicide or foul play...
(via Memeorandum, Charles Cameron)
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