In the numerous catalogues from the past two centuries, the shelf marks of the oriental manuscripts appear in various forms. The shelf mark labels and entries on the manuscripts themselves are also rich in variants.

The shelf marks in the electronic catalogues, however, appear in standardized forms to facilitate research.

The shelf marks must be cited in their standardized form in publications.

The following overview lists the shelf marks of the special materials held by the Oriental Department in their standardized forms and variations. It is divided into shelf mark groups.

The shelf mark group Ms. or.

In the Royal Library of Berlin, the oriental manuscripts were sorted, provided with shelf marks and entered into an inventory from 1818 onward. The Manuscripta orientalia were arranged by their formats. The Prussian State Library continued this system after 1918; after the Second World War, the Public Scientific Library, which later became the German State Library in East Berlin, did the same. In 1929, the collection "Manuscripta simulata orientalia" was created for photomechanical reproductions of oriental manuscripts.

The shelf mark group Ms. or.

In the Royal Library of Berlin, the oriental manuscripts were sorted, provided with shelf marks and entered into an inventory from 1818 onward. The Manuscripta orientalia were arranged by their formats. The Prussian State Library continued this system after 1918; after the Second World War, the Public Scientific Library, which later became the German State Library in East Berlin, did the same. In 1929, the collection "Manuscripta simulata orientalia" was created for photomechanical reproductions of oriental manuscripts.

The shelf mark group Hs. or.

In order to avoid doublets in the shelf marks, oriental manuscripts acquired by the West German successor institution of the Prussian State Library, the later Staatsbibliothek Preußischer Kulturbesitz in West Berlin, used shelf marks of a different kind. These are still continued today by the Oriental Department, which was reunited in 1992.

Special shelf marks of oriental manuscripts

In the Royal Library of Berlin, collections acquired as a whole were often given special shelf marks, the first component of which indicates their provenance. This method was not only used for oriental manuscripts and prints.

In the Royal Library of Berlin, collections acquired as a whole often received special signatures, the first component of which indicates their provenance. 

Special shelf mark groups of East Asian holdings

Signatures of holdings of other institutions held in trust by the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin