The Koran, ipsissima verba of God for Muslims, is today a text that continues to be memorized, written down (in some parts of the world) and recited. In the early days of Islam, the Qur'anic text was transmitted orally. Although the very origins of the written record, probably during Muhammad's lifetime, escape us, manuscript transmission can look back on a long history that began in the second half of the 7th century. Studies of the initial phase of this history began in the 19th century, but research on this subject has multiplied in recent years, examining the essential role that manuscripts played at an early date in the transmission of the Qurʾānic text and its variant readings, but also in its canonization. These studies have highlighted the fluidity of the text and its circulation, and extended the documentary field to include other media such as graffiti and inscriptions, whose testimony can be confronted with the vulgate. From an early date, the Qur'anic manuscript went beyond its initial functions of preservation and transmission, and found itself invested with other roles, the study of which has only just begun. The emergence of calligraphy under the Umayyads and the introduction of illumination in copies of the Qur'an at the same time met new needs: those of the authorities, for example, who used the impression produced by ceremonial manuscripts for their own purposes, and those of the faithful, who found in refined copies the visual expression of their religious convictions. The symposium will provide an opportunity to compare current research on the various aspects of the Koranic manuscript over the centuries.