The display case near the computers on the first floor of the library currently houses a first-edition copy of George Sale’s The Koran; commonly called the Alcoran of Mohammed. This text is a full-length English version of the Koran, the sacred text of Islam.
Thomas Jefferson once owned a second-edition copy of Sale’s translation of the Koran. He, like Sale, found the text to be useful in legal study. Jefferson’s copy is now in the Library of Congress.
Though the text is a translated version of the Koran from its original Arabic, it, along with other translations of the Koran, is commonly referred to as an interpretation rather than a translation. Because Muslims believe Muhammed received the Koran in Arabic, Arabic is the only language used for recitation and reading of the Koran.
Van Wylen’s copy of Sale’s translation came from Dr. William Elliot Griffis, who donated 700 books to Hope between 1880 and 1913.
— Bethany Stripp, Library Student Blogger