The National Endowment for the Humanities has awarded a $300,000 grant to Yale University Library for preservation of its Salisbury Collection. The Salisbury Collection at Yale began in 1870 with a gift from Edward Elbridge Salisbury, the first professor of Arabic Languages and Culture at Yale College. It has grown over the years into a comprehensive collection of foundational works on Islamic law, history, religion, science, mathematics and poetry, along with a large collection of European imprints that document European scholars' first systematic study of Arab religions, language and cultures