Sharjah: An Austria-based publishing company selling exact replicas of rare texts including a 24-carat golden Quran is one of the highlights of this year’s Sharjah International Book Fair.

Produced on special order, each page of the golden Quran is made from fine gold and copies are being published and sold at the book fair by Adeva, a fine art facsimile publishing company based in Vienna, Austria.

“We have only a few copies of the golden Quran because it’s made especially based on order,” Adeva’s President Michael Struzl told Gulf News, adding that a copy has already been ordered by His Highness Dr Shaikh Sultan Bin Mohammad Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah, worth Dh400,000.

The original copy of the golden Quran, which was made 900 years ago at the Calligraphy School of Ibn Al Bawwab, is preserved at the Bavarian State Library in Munich, Germany.

Another replica of the Holy Quran that was written by a king in Morocco 800 years ago is also available to customers visiting the fair. This copy of the Quran was written by a king to another king on the occasion of his accession to the throne, said Struzl, adding that the original is preserved by Palestinian authorities at Al Aqsa Museum.

Replicas the next best thing

Participating at the SIBF for the fifth time, Struzl explained that most original copies are national treasures of their country of origin, and are not for sale.

“We sell different manuscripts that are handwritten and have never been printed before so that people can own an exact copy of original texts from hundreds of years ago,” said Struzl.

Another rare and ancient book sold at the stall is the Imperial Book on the Art of Falconry, written in 1260 by Emperor Freidrich II. The original copy which was written over 500 years ago is being kept at the National Library in Vienna, Austria. The book which includes 900 illustrations of a variety of birds and discusses the technique of hunting with falcons is being sold for Dh23,000.

Providing a variety of rare scripts from around the world, Struzl also highlighted another unique book made originally 550 years ago in Arabic titled Teryaq which means antidote.

“It’s made with gold and silver, and is about different remedial treatments — the original manuscript is kept at the National Library in Paris,” said Struzl.

Customers can also own an exact copy of the smallest book in the world. “The smallest book in the world is two and a half centimetres big and was written by hand in the middle ages in Europe,” he explained, pointing out that it’s a prayer book for Christians. The original copy is preserved in the city of Salzburg in Austria.

Reproducing the delicate artefacts usually takes about one year to be completed, as the process follows several steps, said Struzl. Each step is challenging, starting with gaining access to an original copy and photographing each page from a variety of angles to capture engraved gold or silver threading.

With a few days left until the concluding day of the SIBF, visitors still have a chance to visit the stall until November 16.