the library at Leiden University, the Catalogus codicum orientalium Bibliothecae Academiae Lugduno-Batavae in 1875, and had worked closely with his senior, de Goeje, in enlarging its second edition, published in 1888. His first Oriental text was the Akhtal, Encommium Omayadarum (1878) of the Umayyad poet Al-Akhtal al-Taghlibi. This was followed by two Arabic texts, the Kitāb al-Addād of Ibn al-Anbārī (1881) and the history of al-Ya‘qūbī (1883). His major work on the history of the Seljuks appeared between 1886 and 1902 in the form of Recueil de textes relatifs à l'histoire des Seljoucides (Collection of Texts Relating to the History of the Seljuk People), published in four volumes, two in Persian, one in Arabic and one in Turkish. He also wrote the article on the Seljuks for the Encyclopaedia Britannica. In 1921, he published a volume comprising the verses of the 12th century Persian poet Niẓāmī Ganjavī entitled Choix de vers tirés de la Khamsa de Niẓāmī (Selected Verses from the Khamsa of Niẓāmī) and contributed an article on the poet to the Volume of Oriental studies presented to Edward G. Browne (1922). Houtsma remains most well known, however, for his work as the Chief Editor of the first edition (1913–38) of the Encyclopaedia of Islam. Selected Bibliography De strijd over het dogma in den Islam tot op el-Ashcari. Leiden, (1875) Histoire des Seldjoucides de l'Iraq. Leiden, (1889) 'Bilder aus einem Persischen Fālbuch'. In: Internationales Archiv für Ethnographie, Vol. III, (1890) De Ontwikkelingsgang der hebreeuwsche taalstudie. Utrecht, (1890) M. Th. Houtsma "Some Remarks on the History of the Saljuks", in Acta Orientalia. 3 (1924). M. Th. Houtsma et al. (eds.): The Encyclopædia of Islam. A Dictionary of the Geography, Ethnography and Biography of the Muhammadan Peoples. 4 vols. and Suppl., Leiden: Brill, (1913–38) See also Michael Jan de Goeje Reinhart Dozy Jan Hendrik Scholten References External links 1851 births 1943 deaths Dutch orientalists Members of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences People from Boarnsterhim Dutch encyclopedists