The work by specialist in Arabic and Islamic studies Ignatius Yulianovich Krachkovsky contains his memories on the work with Arabic manuscripts at libraries and manuscript deposits of Leningrad and of the Arabic Orient. The author saw the aim of his book in the propaganda of Arabic philology. There are five chapters in the book: ‘In the manuscript department’, ‘From the wanderings in the East’, ‘In the Asian Museum’, ‘In the University library’, ‘The game walks into one's bag’, and the ‘Final’, the comments to the notes under the title ‘Necessity of unnecessary’, Notes as they are, and the ‘Explanation of the terms’. The author described his travels to the East (Beirut, Damascus, Alexandria, Cairo, and Constantinople). There are tales on book-lovers, books – those, which were in his own work, and those who went into struggle against people. There are also memories on the original library of his childhood, the Asian Museum, the school of V. V. Rosen, the University library and those who worked at it, on A. E. Schmidt, the Volkovskoe Cemetery, on the life history of at-Tantawi and his collection, on Spanish Arabic studies, research in the Southern Arabia, Kufic Qurans, an autograph by Imam Shamil, and on the Quran translation by Boguslavsky.

The author himself wrote about himself the following: ‘I ask not to look at this book as at the private memories of the author. I wrote not about myself, but about Arabic manuscripts, which played a great role in my life, which I was lucky to find or to pass into the research world. Manuscripts often drew memories on various libraries, where they were preserved, on people, who were connected with them, and, naturally, about myself. But nor everything of the kind was really important. First of all, I wanted to show, what happens with a scholar in his studying room over manuscripts, to open up those feelings, which agitate him, and which he does not describe in his professional works, talking about his scholarly conclusions. I wanted to tell about joys and upsets of the desk work, unknown for the most part of others, taking his work dull, dry and teared of life’.