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William Montgomery Watt

Islam and Christianity.

William Montgomery Watt (1909-2006) was a priest in the Scottish Episcopal Church, and Professor of Arabic and Islamic Studies at the University of Edinburgh. Educated at the Universities of Edinburgh, Jena, and at Balliol College, Oxford, he held various lectureships at this University. In 1964 he accepted the Chair from which he retired in 1979. Ordained in 1939, he was an active priest who reflected and wrote on the relationship between Christianity and Islam for much of his life.

His collection contains someĀ 940 titles and is strong in several areas, notably Islam, and particularly in Quranic commentary. Other subjects covered include mysticism and Islamic law, Islam and medieval philosophy, the relationship between Islam and Christianity, the history of the Arab world, and Arabic literature.

The collection is mainly catalogued online and is on open access, along with the related Serjeant and Smith collections.