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On the History of the Book (Islamic Studies)

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Oct 18th, 2019
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  1. ntroduction
  2. The book is a complex object. In addition to being a copy of a text (Ar. nuskha), a manuscript is a handcrafted object (Ar. maṣnū‘), and a printed book involves more or less sophisticated technical devices. The book has a central role in Islamic civilization, especially considering the special status of the Qurʾan, the first book in the Arabic language and Arabic script, as well as the sacred book of Islam. Moreover, this special status of the (sacred) book in Islamic culture is mirrored by the category of the ahl al-kitāb (People of the Book), referring to Muslim, Christians, and Jews, with their respective scriptures. In Islamic culture, seeking knowledge is a religious duty, and manuscripts, regardless of the subject, have always been treated with great respect—not only as sources of knowledge, but also as a means of fulfilling this religious duty. Moreover, Islamic manuscript production, especially in Arabic, is so vast that it has no comparison, from a quantitative point of view, with that of any other civilization. Therefore, a history of the book in the Islamic world encompasses different domains of research, such as paleography and codicology, which study the physical characteristics of the book, its script, and its life, as told through its manuscript notes (e.g., certificates of reading and audition, notes of possession and reading). This field of study also involves art history (given the importance of illustrated and decorated manuscripts and books), the history of religion (in connection with the Qurʾan), the history of ideas, the history of libraries and bibliography, and conservation and preservation. Despite their overwhelming number, manuscripts are not the only focus of this article. The history of printing in the Islamic lands represents, in itself, a wide field that deserves attention and further lines of research. Block printing—mainly used for specific kinds of texts, such as amulets and Hajj certificates—represents an early stage (9th–14th century) of printing within the Dar al-Islam territories (from Central Asia to al-Andalus) that only recently gained scholarly attention. Printing with movable type in Arabic dates back to 15th-century Italy, and it only developed later in the Islamic lands, starting from Lebanon (Quzhaya, 1610), Syria (Aleppo, 1706), and Turkey (Istanbul, 1729), and eventually gaining momentum in the first decade of the 20th century. The reasons for this delay were, for a long time, attributed to the imperial ban on printing (linked to two firmans/edicts, supposedly dated 1485 and 1515), together with the resistance of ulama and the guild of the copyists. However, the question of the slow spread of the printing press in the Islamic lands from the 18th century on has been recently addressed from different historical perspectives. This reassessment has led to the acknowledgement that social, cultural, and aesthetic factors together—yet with different effectiveness—explain both the cold reception of the printing press in the Islamic lands and the subsequent change that led to the introduction of mass printing in the Middle East. Stressing the persistence of manuscript book production within the Islamic lands, from the first centuries of Islam until the 21st century, helps us to understand the somewhat unbalanced number of studies (and sections in this bibliography) devoted to handwritten books compared to those dealing with printed material. Last, but not least, there are a number of specialized journals and resources on the web that are devoted to the study of manuscripts and books, ranging from introductory courses to paleography, databases, open-access volumes of studies, text repositories, and digitized manuscripts.
  3.  
  4. General Overviews
  5. Already in the 4th/10th century, Ibn al-Nadim produced a bibliographical work devoted to book production in the Muslim lands: Ibn al-Nadīm 1970. Günther 2006 gives some insight into two other classical Arabic texts on books and book culture. One of the classic texts on Arabic books is Pedersen 1984, originally published in Danish in 1946, then translated in English, and now also in Turkish. Another is also Kratchkovsky 1953. Atiyeh 1995 collects contributions about the Islamic book from manuscript to print. Hirschler 2012 is an innovative work based on a wide range of documentary, literary, and iconographic material. Hitzel 1999 offers an ample and accurate collection of papers centered on different aspects of reading practices in the Ottoman Empire. Richard 2003 is an overview of Persian manuscript production.
  6.  
  7. Atiyeh, George N., ed. The Book in the Islamic World: The Written Word and Communication in the Middle East. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1995.
  8.  
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  10.  
  11. Fourteen papers dealings with various topics, from the illustrations of Arabic scientific manuscripts to the role of the book in the modern world. An overview that includes a list of selected bibliographical references (pp. 273–281).
  12.  
  13. Find this resource:
  14.  
  15. Günther, Sebastian. “Praise the Book! Al-Jāḥiẓ and Ibn Qutayba on the Excellence of the Written Word in Medieval Islam.” In Franz Rosenthal Memorial Volume. Edited by Yohanan Friedmann, 125–143. Jerusalem: Hebrew University Press, 2006.
  16.  
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  18.  
  19. Describes the different attitudes toward the books and readers of two classical authors of Arabic literature.
  20.  
  21. Find this resource:
  22.  
  23. Hirschler, Konrad. The Written Word in the Medieval Arabic Lands: A Social and Cultural History of Reading Practices. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2012.
  24.  
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  26.  
  27. An incisive work exploiting documentary sources for the study of reading practices in the Arabic Middle Period, in Syria and Egypt. Special attention is given to popular culture and the literary production linked to the spread of reading skills within the society. An Italian translation is also available: Leggere e scrivere nell’Islam medievale (Rome: Carocci, 2017) with an Introduction by Arianna D’Ottone.
  28.  
  29. Find this resource:
  30.  
  31. Hitzel, Frédéric, ed. Special Issue: Livres et lectures dans le monde ottoman. Revue des mondes musulmans et de la Méditerranée 87–88 (1999).
  32.  
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  34.  
  35. An inspiring collection of thirteen papers throwing light on various aspects of book production and consumption in the Ottoman territory.
  36.  
  37. Find this resource:
  38.  
  39. Ibn al-Nadīm. The Fihrist of al-Nadīm: A Tenth-Century Survey of Muslim Culture. Edited and translated by Bayard Dodge. 2 vols. New York: Columbia University Press, 1970.
  40.  
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  42.  
  43. An English translation of a classical Arabic text in which a precious list of book titles is given. Despite the fact that not every title listed corresponds to an actual book, the list informs us about the existence of works now lost.
  44.  
  45. Find this resource:
  46.  
  47. Kratchkovsky, Ignatii Y. Among Arabic Manuscripts: Memories of Libraries and Men. Translated from the Russian by Tatiana Minorsky. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, 1953.
  48.  
  49. DOI: 10.1163/9789004321359Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  50.  
  51. A classic and somehow poetic mémoire-style text that is in fact an introduction to Arabic manuscripts and their study. A must-read.
  52.  
  53. Find this resource:
  54.  
  55. Pedersen, Johannes. The Arabic Book. Translated by Geoffrey French. Edited with an Introduction by Robert Hillenbrand. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1984.
  56.  
  57. DOI: 10.1515/9781400856374Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  58.  
  59. The original edition is in Danish, Den Arabiske Bog (Copenhagen: Fisher, 1946), and a recent translation in Turkish is now available: Mustafa M. Karagözoğlu, trans., İslam dünyasinda kitabın tarihi (Istanbul: Klasik, 2013). A classical text giving a wide overview, now somewhat dated but still useful, on the role of the book and book production in Arabic lands.
  60.  
  61. Find this resource:
  62.  
  63. Richard, Francis. Le livre persan. Paris: Bibliothèque Nationale de France, 2003.
  64.  
  65. DOI: 10.4000/books.editionsbnf.2457Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  66.  
  67. Exploiting the rich manuscript holdings of the Bibliothèque Nationale de France, this work outlines some of the characteristics of the Persian manuscript and deals with the history of the texts.
  68.  
  69. Find this resource:
  70.  
  71. Roper, Geoffrey, ed. The History of the Book in the Middle East. Farnham, UK: Ashgate, 2013.
  72.  
  73. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  74.  
  75. An ample selection of articles (568 pages plus index), chosen from a variety of publications (journals, conference proceedings, exhibition catalogues) about manuscripts, the history of printing, and printed books in different languages of the Islamic world.
  76.  
  77. Find this resource:
  78.  
  79. Strauss, Johann. “Who Read What in the Ottoman Empire (19th–20th Centuries)?” Middle Eastern Literatures 6.1 (2003): 39–76.
  80.  
  81. DOI: 10.1080/14752620306881Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  82.  
  83. A vivid overview on the complex multilingual and multireligious literary production and reading audience in the territories of the Ottoman Empire in modern times.
  84.  
  85. Find this resource:
  86.  
  87. Codicology
  88. Codicology can be defined as an archaeology of the manuscript books since it studies the material characteristics of the codices and the cultural context of their production. Codicology is a flourishing field of study in which publications, focusing on different aspects of the study of the manuscript book, appear in different languages (European and extra-European). A reference manual for the codicology of Islamic manuscripts is Déroche, et al. 2006, available in various European languages and in Arabic as well. Sayyid 1997 is a pioneering work in Arabic devoted to the study of Arabic manuscripts. Gacek 2001 and Gacek 2001 provide a useful bibliographical guide to previous literature on various specific themes of codicological research. For regional manuscript production, one can take profit from Brac de la Perrière 2014, which focuses on Indian manuscripts, D’Ottone 2006, a codicological study devoted to medieval Yemeni codices and Gallop 2015 (under Paleography) is a paleographical essay focused on the Jawi script. As for the technical literature, Zaki 2011 gives some insight into a unique Arabic text on bookmaking that was recently discovered. The edited volume Goerke and Hirschler 2011 (cited under History of Manuscripts and Books) is a rich collection of essays focused on the study of a wide range of manuscript notes, making it useful in understanding the history of manuscript copies. The edited volume Kerr and Milo 2013 (also under Paleography) gathers a number of essays on manuscripts, printed books, and electronic typesetting in Arabic and other languages of the Islamic world.
  89.  
  90. Brac de la Perrière, Éloïse. “The Art of the Book in India under the Sultanates.” In After Timur Left: Culture and Circulation in Fifteenth-Century North India. Edited by Francesca Orsini and Samira Sheikh, 301–338. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014.
  91.  
  92. DOI: 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199450664.003.0011Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  93.  
  94. This rich book chapter contains important insights on Indian manuscript production, which the author extensively investigated for her PhD thesis, L’art du livre dans l’Inde des sultanats (Paris: Presses de l’Université Paris-Sorbonne, 2008).
  95.  
  96. Find this resource:
  97.  
  98. Déroche, François, Annie Berthier, M. I. Waley, et al. Islamic Codicology: An Introduction to the Study of Manuscripts in Arabic Script. Translated by Deke Dusinberre and David Radzinowicz; edited by M. I. Waley. London: Al-Furqan Islamic Heritage Foundation, 2006.
  99.  
  100. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  101.  
  102. Translation of the French original, Manuel de codicologie des manuscrits en écriture arabe (Paris: Bibliothèque Nationale de France, 2000). Translated into various European languages, as well as in Arabic, this volume represents a first, introductory text to the codicology of manuscripts in Arabic script.
  103.  
  104. Find this resource:
  105.  
  106. D’Ottone, Arianna. I manoscritti arabi dello Yemen: Una ricerca codicologica. Rome: Università degli Studi di Roma “La Sapienza”–Facoltà di Studi Orientali, 2006.
  107.  
  108. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  109.  
  110. A monograph devoted to the codicological features of Yemeni medieval manuscripts through the analysis of the data from a corpus of some 170 codices from European and Yemenite libraries.
  111.  
  112. Find this resource:
  113.  
  114. Efthymiou, Marie, ed. L’art du livre en Asie Centrale de la fin du XVIe au début du XXe siècle: Études des manuscrits coraniques de l’Institut d’Orientalisme Abū Rayhān Bīrūnī. Islamic Manuscripts and Books 5. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, 2015.
  115.  
  116. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  117.  
  118. A codicological study of Central Asian Qurʾanic manuscripts.
  119.  
  120. Find this resource:
  121.  
  122. Gacek, Adam. The Arabic Manuscript Tradition: A Glossary of Technical Terms and Bibliography. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, 2001.
  123.  
  124. DOI: 10.1163/9789047400844Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  125.  
  126. Lists and explains technical terms (in Arabic characters) of codicological and paleographical interest, completed by a most useful bibliographical section. A supplemental volume was published in 2008.
  127.  
  128. Find this resource:
  129.  
  130. Gacek, Adam. Arabic Manuscripts: A Vademecum for Readers. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, 2012.
  131.  
  132. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  133.  
  134. A very helpful tool in which technical terms, general topics, and specific features of the manuscript book are arranged alphabetically (in English) and explained.
  135.  
  136. Find this resource:
  137.  
  138. Pelevin, Mikhail S., ed. Manuscripts and Woodblock Prints of the East: Essays on Codicology. St. Petersburg, Russia: Svoë Izdatel’stvo, 2015.
  139.  
  140. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  141.  
  142. A collection of eight contributions on manuscripts and block-printed materials in various Oriental languages (Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Tibetan, Mongolian, Indian, Ottoman, and Persian). In Russian.
  143.  
  144. Find this resource:
  145.  
  146. Safari Agh Ghaleh, ‘Ali. Nuskha shenākht: Pazhūheshnāma-yi nukhsha-shenāsi-yi nusakh-I khakha-I kha Fārsī. Tehran, Iran: Markaz-i Pizhushi-i Mirash-i Maktub, 2011.
  147.  
  148. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  149.  
  150. A useful guide to the codicological features of Persian manuscripts.
  151.  
  152. Find this resource:
  153.  
  154. Sayyid, Ayman Fuʾad. Al-Kitāb al-ʻal-ʻA al-makhmak wa-ʻilm al-makhmakha. 2 vols. Cairo: Al-Dar al-Mil-Mi-M al-Lubnaniyah, 1997.
  155.  
  156. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  157.  
  158. A useful introduction, in Arabic, to the study of the Arabic book and to codicology.
  159.  
  160. Find this resource:
  161.  
  162. Zaki, Mahmoud. “Early Arabic Bookmaking Techniques as Described by al-Rāzī in His Recently Rediscovered Zīnat al-katabah.” Journal of Islamic Manuscripts 2 (2011): 223–234.
  163.  
  164. DOI: 10.1163/187846411X597243Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  165.  
  166. Illustrates the contents of an Arabic treatise on bookmaking by Zakariya al-Razi (d. 313/925), previously unknown, an edition of which is expected soon.
  167.  
  168. Find this resource:
  169.  
  170. Paleography
  171. Paleography is a discipline that aims at studying ancient handwriting in order to read, locate, and date manuscript books—while diplomatics deals with the scripts used in chancery and historical documents. Petrucci 2008 is an inspiring read—the interest of which goes beyond a specific linguistic domain—that is useful for mapping the field of paleography. The scripts employed for the copying of early Qurʾan manuscripts have received great attention over the years, and their study has produced valuable and productive results; see Déroche 1983 on this topic. Islamic manuscripts offer an immense variety of scripts that mirror regional and chronological peculiarities. The edited volume Kerr and Milo 2013 gathers a number of essays on manuscripts, printed books, and electronic typesetting in Arabic and other languages of the Islamic world, while D’Ottone Rambach 2018 is a miscellaneous volume that explores the potential of a “world paleography.” Gallop 2015 is a paleographical essay focused on the Jawi script, and Kurt and Ceyhan 2012 is devoted to Ottoman paleography and diplomatics. Brigaglia 2011 (and a subsequent volume with Nobili) offers an interesting overview of Central African Arabic script(s). An example of a paleographical research is the contribution Déroche 1999.
  172.  
  173. Brigaglia, Andrea. “Central Sudanic Arabic Scripts (Part 1): The Popularization of the Kanawī Script.” Islamic Africa 2.2 (2011): 51–85.
  174.  
  175. DOI: 10.5192/21540993020251Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  176.  
  177. An interesting contribution devoted to the Arabic scripts of Central Sudan. This was followed by a second article addressing the Arabic script in northeastern Nigeria: Brigalia, Andrea, and Mauro Nobili. “Central Sudanic Arabic Scripts (Part 2): Barnāwī.” Islamic Africa 4.2 (2013): 195–223.
  178.  
  179. Find this resource:
  180.  
  181. Déroche, François. Les manuscrits du Coran. Vol. 1, Aux origines de la calligraphie coranique. Catalogue des manuscrits arabes, deuxième partie: Manuscrits musulmans. Paris: Bibliothèque Nationale de France, 1983.
  182.  
  183. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  184.  
  185. More than a catalogue of Qurʾanic manuscripts, the volume contains an interesting chapter, then cutting edge, titled “Éléments de paléographie coranique ancienne” (pp. 12–55).
  186.  
  187. Find this resource:
  188.  
  189. Déroche, François. “Un critère de datation des écritures coraniques anciennes: Le kāf finale ou isolé.” Damaszner Mitteilungen 11 (1999): 87–94.
  190.  
  191. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  192.  
  193. The paper focuses on the various shapes of the letter kāf in early Qurʾan manuscripts. Through a historical examination of the various shapes of the letter kāf in its final form in inscriptions and papyri, the different shapes of this letter constitute a useful index for dating old Qurʾanic scripts.
  194.  
  195. Find this resource:
  196.  
  197. D’Ottone Rambach, Arianna, ed. Palaeography between East and West: Proceedings of the Seminars on Arabic Palaeography at Sapienza University of Rome. Pisa, Italy: F. Serra, 2018.
  198.  
  199. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  200.  
  201. A collection of eight papers dealing with manuscript material in different languages, through some of which it is possible to see the cultural interconnection of the written culture in the medieval Mediterranean and beyond.
  202.  
  203. Find this resource:
  204.  
  205. Gallop, Annabel Teh. “A Jawi Sourcebook for the Study of Malay Palaeography and Orthography.” Indonesia and the Malay World 43.125 (2015): 13–171.
  206.  
  207. DOI: 10.1080/13639811.2015.1008253Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  208.  
  209. Focusing on the Jawi script, this contribution deals with the written production of the Malay-speaking community from the 16th to the 20th century. It includes illustrations, transcriptions, and commentaries on sixty handwritten specimens produced in different parts of the Malay world.
  210.  
  211. Find this resource:
  212.  
  213. Jaouhari, Mustapha, ed. Les écritures des manuscrits de l’Occident musulman: Journée d’études tenue à Rabat le 29 novembre 2012. Rencontres du Centre Jacques Berque 5. Rabat, Morocco: Centre Jacques Berque, 2013.
  214.  
  215. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  216.  
  217. The proceedings of a study day devoted to Arabic script in the Western regions of the Dar al-Islam, gathering six texts (in French and Arabic) focused on the maghribi script. The series also includes another volume linked to a study day dedicated to a different theme: Paléographie des écritures arabes d’al-Andalus, du Maghreb et de l’Afrique subsaharienne: Journée d’études tenue à Rabat le 28 novembre 2013 (Rabat: Centre Jacques Berque, 2013), including seven papers (in French and Arabic).
  218.  
  219. Find this resource:
  220.  
  221. Kerr, Robert M., and Thomas Milo, eds. Writings and Writing from Another World to Another Era: Investigations in Islamic Text and Script in Honour of Dr. Januarius Justus Witkam, Professor of Codicology and Palaeography of the Islamic World at Leyden University. Cambridge, UK: Archetype, 2013.
  222.  
  223. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  224.  
  225. Twenty papers dealing with various aspects of the written production and culture in the Islamic world.
  226.  
  227. Find this resource:
  228.  
  229. Kurt, Yılmaz, and Muhammed Ceyhan. Osmanlı Paleografyası ve Osmanlı Diplomatikası. Ankara, Turkey: Akçağ, 2012.
  230.  
  231. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  232.  
  233. A recent study (Ottoman paleography and diplomatics) devoted to the Ottoman paleography.
  234.  
  235. Find this resource:
  236.  
  237. Orsatti, Paola. “Gli studi di Paleografia araba oggi: Problemi e metodi.” Scrittura e Civiltà 14 (1990): 281–331.
  238.  
  239. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  240.  
  241. A valuable status quaestionis on the studies devoted to Arabic paleography, with still useful bibliographical references in different languages and seven plates.
  242.  
  243. Find this resource:
  244.  
  245. Petrucci, Armando. Una lliçó de paleografia. Educació, Materials 106. Valencia, Spain: Universitat de Valéncia, 2008.
  246.  
  247. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  248.  
  249. A Spanish translation of the Italian original edition, Prima lezione di paleografia (Rome: Laterza, 2002). A very suggestive introduction to the field of paleography, and useful reading for everyone interested in this field.
  250.  
  251. Find this resource:
  252.  
  253. Illuminated Manuscripts and Illustrated Books
  254. Miniatures, decorations, and illustrations represent an important chapter in the history of the Islamic book. A number of specialized publications are focused on this specific aspect of the textual tradition, both in manuscripts (see Contadini 2010) and in printed books. Illustrations in lithographic books are the successor of manuscript illuminations, as seen in Marzolph 2001.
  255.  
  256. Arnold, Thomas, and Adolph Grohmann. The Islamic Book: A Contribution to Its Art and History from the VII–XVIII Century. Paris: Pegasus Press, 1929.
  257.  
  258. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  259.  
  260. A classic reference, somewhat outdated, but useful to know.
  261.  
  262. Find this resource:
  263.  
  264. Brac de la Perrière, Éloïse, and Monique Burési, eds. Le Coran de Gwalior: Polysémie d’un manuscrit à peintures. Orient & Méditerranée 19. Paris: Éditions de Boccard, 2016.
  265.  
  266. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  267.  
  268. A volume devoted to a richly decorated Qurʾan produced in central India. Nine contributions, by different authors, consider various aspects of the codex (decorations, marginal glosses, codicological features, historical and textual contexts) as well as the broader scene of Indo-Persian manuscript production.
  269.  
  270. Find this resource:
  271.  
  272. Contadini, Anna, ed. Arabic Painting: Text and Image in Illustrated Arabic Manuscripts. Handbuch der Orientalistik, Erste Abteilung, Nahe und der Mittlere Osten 90. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, 2010.
  273.  
  274. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  275.  
  276. A rich volume, gatherings thirteen texts dealing with various aspect of the interaction between text and images. The title echoes a classic study devoted to illustrated Arabic manuscripts, and the contents render the volume a modern reference for the field.
  277.  
  278. Find this resource:
  279.  
  280. Ettinghausen, Richard. Arab Painting. Treasures of Asia. Geneva, Switzerland: Skira, 1962.
  281.  
  282. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  283.  
  284. A classic, somewhat outdated reference, but a good one to know.
  285.  
  286. Find this resource:
  287.  
  288. Gallop, Annabel Teh. “The Art of the Malay Qur’an.” Arts of Asia 42.1 (2012): 84–95.
  289.  
  290. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  291.  
  292. An article that gives a valuable overview of the decorated Malay Qurʾans.
  293.  
  294. Find this resource:
  295.  
  296. Grabar, Oleg. Mostly Miniatures: An Introduction to Persian Paintings. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2000
  297.  
  298. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  299.  
  300. A richly illustrated monograph that set the state of the art in the field of Persian painting. A translation of La peinture persane (Paris: Presses Universitaire de France, 1999).
  301.  
  302. Find this resource:
  303.  
  304. Hillenbrand, Robert. Studies in the Islamic Arts of the Book. London: Pindar Press, 2012.
  305.  
  306. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  307.  
  308. A collection of studies mainly focused on Persian illustrated manuscripts from the 14th to the 16th century.
  309.  
  310. Find this resource:
  311.  
  312. Hoffman, Eva R. “The Beginnings of the Illustrated Arabic Book: An Intersection between Art and Scholarship.” Muqarnas 17 (2000): 37–52.
  313.  
  314. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  315.  
  316. An article especially focused on the first illustrated Arabic manuscripts and the Greco-Roman late antique tradition.
  317.  
  318. Find this resource:
  319.  
  320. Marzolph, Ulrich. Narrative Illustration in Persian Lithographed Books. Handbuch der Orientalistik, Erste Abteilung, Nahe und der Mittlere Osten 60. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, 2001.
  321.  
  322. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  323.  
  324. A groundbreaking and inspiring study devoted to the illustrations in lithographic books printed in Iran in the 19th and early 20th centuries, of which a Persian edition is also available: Taṣwīrsāzī-i dāstānī dar kitābhā-i čāp-i sangī-i fārsī (Tehran: Muʾassasa-i Farhangī Pažūhišī-i Čāp wa Našr-i Naẓar, 2011).
  325.  
  326. Find this resource:
  327.  
  328. History of Manuscripts and Books
  329. The edited volume Goerke and Hirschler 2011 is a rich collection of essays focused on the study of a wide range of manuscript notes; it is useful to understand the history of manuscript copies. Certificates of reading and audition (qira’a and sama‘) are one of the most profitable type of manuscript notes to gain insights into the audience of certain texts. The Damascene scene is mirrored by two volumes of audition notes: Leder, et al. 1996 and Leder, et al. 2000. The reading notes in the manuscripts of the 1001 Nights from the Syrian-Lebanese area, once belonging to A. Galland, set the stage for Daaïf and Sironval 2013 to examine the geographical and social circulation of these volumes. The Yemenite region, including its intellectual history and manuscript production, is the focus of Hollenberg, et al. 2015. Examining the process of formation of the Ottoman canon of law and the emergence of a hierarchy of texts, Burak 2016 also investigates the passage from manuscript to print form and illustrates a list of “reliable books.”
  330.  
  331. Burak, Guy. “Reliable Books: Islamic Law, Canonization and Manuscripts in the Ottoman Empire (Sixteenth to Eighteenth Centuries).” In Canonical Texts and Scholarly Practices: A Global Comparative Approach. Edited by Anthony Grafton and Glenn Most, 14–33. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2016.
  332.  
  333. DOI: 10.1017/CBO9781316226728.002Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  334.  
  335. A study on the emergence of a canon of law texts in the Ottoman Empire through a study case: the commentary by al-Baqani (d. 1549) of the most popular jurisprudential manual of the epoch.
  336.  
  337. Find this resource:
  338.  
  339. Daaïf, Lahcen, and Margaret Sironval. “Marges et espaces blancs dans le manuscrit arabe des Milles et une Nuits d’Antoine Galland.” In Les non-dit du nom: Onomastique et documents en terres d’Islam. Publications de l’I.F.E.A.D 267. Edited by Christian Müller and Muriel Roialnd-Rouabah, 85–126. Beirut, Lebanon: Presses de l’Ifpo, 2013.
  340.  
  341. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  342.  
  343. A contribution focused on the marginal notes in Galland’s volumes of The Thousands and One Nights—dating back to the 15th century—that sheds light on the readers and the circulation of this text, opening a new area of research on their history.
  344.  
  345. Find this resource:
  346.  
  347. Goerke, Andreas, and Konrad Hirschler, eds. Manuscript Notes as Documentary Sources. Beirut, Lebanon: Orient-Institut Beirut, 2011.
  348.  
  349. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  350.  
  351. A valuable collection of eleven papers analyzing different types of manuscript notes, of diverse nature, written in the margin of Oriental manuscripts. Shows the potential of this kind of source for the history of manuscripts.
  352.  
  353. Find this resource:
  354.  
  355. Hollenberg, David, Christoph Rauch, and Sabine Schmidtke, eds. The Yemeni Manuscript Tradition. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, 2015.
  356.  
  357. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  358.  
  359. Collective volume gathering nine texts illuminating some peculiarities of Yemeni manuscript production and intellectual history.
  360.  
  361. Find this resource:
  362.  
  363. Leder, Stefan, Yasin Muhammad al-Sawwas, and Ma’mun al-Sagharji. Mu‘jam al-samā‘āt al-Dimashqiyya min sanat 550 ilà 750 hijriyya/1155 ilà 1349 mīlādiyya: Les certificats d’autions à Damas 550–750/1155–1349. Études arabes, médiévales et modernes—PIFD 162. Damascus, Syria: Institut Français d’Études Arabes, 1996.
  364.  
  365. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  366.  
  367. This volume is a turning point in the studies devoted to audition certificates, giving a precious documentary basis for a number of further studies. This monograph is followed by Leder, et al. 2000.
  368.  
  369. Find this resource:
  370.  
  371. Leder, Stefan, Yasin Muhammad al-Sawwās, Ma’mun al-Asgharji. Mu‘jam al-samā‘āt al-Dimashqiyya—Ṣūwar al-makhṭūṭāt/Recueil de documents facsimilés des certificats d’autions à Damas 550–750/1155–1349. Damascus, Syria: Institut Français de Damas-Deutsches Archäolgisches Institut, 2000.
  372.  
  373. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  374.  
  375. A collection of facsimiles which put together the documentary evidence on which is based Leder, et al. 1996. An interesting repertoire of scripts with which it is possible to get confidence with this type of texts.
  376.  
  377. Find this resource:
  378.  
  379. Mandalà, Giuseppe, and Inmaculada Pérez Martín, eds. Multilingual and Multigraphic Documents and Manuscripts of East and West. Perspectives on Linguistics and Ancient Languages 5. Piscataway, NJ: Gorgia Press, 2018.
  380.  
  381. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  382.  
  383. A miscellaneous volume examining a number of texts focused on the historical context of written materials (documents and books) in Arabic (and other languages and scripts) from Italy, Spain, and Syria.
  384.  
  385. Find this resource:
  386.  
  387. Regourd, Anne, ed. The Trade in Papers Marked with Non-Latin Characters/Le commerce des papiers à marques en caractères non-latins. Islamic Manuscripts and Books 15. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, 2018.
  388.  
  389. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  390.  
  391. A miscellaneous volume that brings together ten contributions illustrating papers with watermarks in non-Latin characters and their spread, as well as the new commercial routes through which they was distributed.
  392.  
  393. Find this resource:
  394.  
  395. Roper, Geoffrey. “The History of the Book in the Muslim World.” In The Oxford Companion to the Book. Edited by Michael F. Suarez and H. R. Woudhuysen, 321–339. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010.
  396.  
  397. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  398.  
  399. A general overview that covers in ten sections a wide period and different aspects of manuscript and book production. It starts from the origin of the Arabic book and stretches to the contemporary Muslim book.
  400.  
  401. Find this resource:
  402.  
  403. Witkam, Jan Just. “Lists of Books in Arabic Manuscripts.” Manuscripts of the Middle East 5 (1990–1991): 123–136.
  404.  
  405. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  406.  
  407. A contribution employing eclectic sources (e.g., travelogues, catalogues of libraries that have disappeared, sales lists) and certificates of reading, to document the movements and fate of manuscripts and manuscript collections in the Middle East and in Europe.
  408.  
  409. Find this resource:
  410.  
  411. Qurʾan and Qurʾanic Manuscripts
  412. Muslims consider the Qurʾan to be the word of God, transmitted through the Prophet Muhammad. Madigan 2001 is an insightful work devoted to the Qurʾan as a book. Hilali 2017 provides a useful and accurate inquiry into the history of the Qurʾanic text and its early transmission through the scrutiny of the famous Sanaa palimpsest. Fedeli 2012 studies the textual variants of the oldest Qurʾanic manuscripts in light of both the qira’at traditions and papyri. The paleography of Qurʾan manuscripts of Abbasid times is illustrated in Déroche 1992. The 2006 issue of Mélanges de l’Université Saint-Joseph provides the proceedings of an international conference on Qurʾanic manuscripts.
  413.  
  414. Ben Azzouna, Nourane. “Les Corans de l’Occident musulman medieval: État des recherches et Nouvelles perspectives.” Perspective: Actualité en histoire de l’art 2 (2017): 103–130.
  415.  
  416. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  417.  
  418. An updated status quaestions on research on the Qurʾan manuscripts produced in the western part of the Islamic lands.
  419.  
  420. Find this resource:
  421.  
  422. Déroche, François. The Abbasid Tradition: Qurans from the 8th to the 10th Centuries AD. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1992.
  423.  
  424. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  425.  
  426. A richly illustrated catalogue of a private collection that serves as a useful tool for the identification of the ancient Qurʾanic scripts.
  427.  
  428. Find this resource:
  429.  
  430. Déroche, François. Qurʾans of the Umayyads: A First Overview. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, 2014.
  431.  
  432. DOI: 10.1163/9789004261853Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  433.  
  434. A survey of early Qurʾanic manuscript production.
  435.  
  436. Find this resource:
  437.  
  438. D’Ottone Rambach, Arianna. “The Blue Koran: A Contribution to the Debate on its Origin and Date.” Journal of Islamic Manuscripts 8.2 (2017): 127–143.
  439.  
  440. DOI: 10.1163/1878464X-00801004Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  441.  
  442. Examines an iconic and enigmatic Qurʾan manuscript, proposing new perspectives about its origin and place of production.
  443.  
  444. Find this resource:
  445.  
  446. Fedeli, Alba. “Variants and Substantiated Qirā’āt: A Few Notes Exploring Their Fluidity in the Oldest Qur’ānic Manuscripts.” In Die Entstehung einer Weltreligion. Vol. 2, Von der koranischen Bewegung zum Frühislam. Edited by M. Groß and K. L. Ohlig, 403–440. Berlin: Hans Schiler, 2012.
  447.  
  448. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  449.  
  450. A well-argued paper dealing with textual variants in Qurʾanic manuscripts of the first two centuries of the Hijra, through some chosen examples.
  451.  
  452. Find this resource:
  453.  
  454. Hilali, Asma. The Sanaa Palimpsest: The Transmission of the Qur’ān in the First Centuries AH. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2017.
  455.  
  456. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  457.  
  458. A critical review of the previous studies on this palimpsest is followed by a convincing discussion of the use of the lower and upper texts and by an accurate annotated edition of the texts—both of the scriptio inferior and of the scriptio superior. Published in collaboration with the Institute of Ismaili Studies.
  459.  
  460. Find this resource:
  461.  
  462. Madigan, Daniel A. The Qur’ān’s Self-Image: Writing and Authority in Islam’s Scripture. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2001.
  463.  
  464. DOI: 10.1515/9780691188454Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  465.  
  466. A stimulating reflection on the nature of the Qurʾan as a book that questions the meaning of the term kitab in connection with the sacred book of Islam—for which the term mushaf is usually employed—through a semantic analysis of the term, its root, and its occurrences in the Qurʾan itself. A final Appendix examines the relation between the Qurʾan and the sacred texts of the other “People of the Book.”
  467.  
  468. Find this resource:
  469.  
  470. Small, Keith E. Textual Criticism and Qur’ān Manuscripts. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2011.
  471.  
  472. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  473.  
  474. A work aiming at applying the approach of textual criticism to the study of Qurʾan manuscripts.
  475.  
  476. Find this resource:
  477.  
  478. Special Issue: Actes de la Conférence internationale sur les manuscrits du Coran (Bologne, 26–28 septembre 2002). Mélanges de l’Université Saint-Joseph 59 (2006): 161–405.
  479.  
  480. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  481.  
  482. A miscellaneous collection of thirteen papers dealing with different aspects of Qurʾan manuscripts: from codicological remarks on Chinese Qurʾans and their papers to the collection of Qurʾan manuscripts in Russia.
  483.  
  484. Find this resource:
  485.  
  486. Witkam, Jan Just. “Twenty-Nine Rules for Qurʾan Copying: A Set of Rules for the Lay-Out of a Nineteenth-Century Ottoman Qurʾan Manuscript.” In Special Issue: Essays in Honour of Barbara Flemming, Vol. 2. Edited by Jan Schmidt. Journal of Turkish Studies 26.1 (2002): 339–348.
  487.  
  488. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  489.  
  490. A contribution containing an edition, translation, and commentary of a short Arabic text, dated 1279/1862, about the rules to follow in copying Qurʾanic manuscripts. These rules give a theoretical base to the evident process of standardization in the production of Ottoman Qurʾans.
  491.  
  492. Find this resource:
  493.  
  494. Arabic Versions of the Bible
  495. Arabic versions of the Bible represent a long-standing field of research in Islamic studies that goes back to the end of the 19th century (see Guidi 1888). This field has recently received renewed attention, however, as the edited volume Binay and Leder 2012 shows. Griffith 2013 explores translations of the Bible in Arabic made by Christians and Jews from a historical point of view. Vollandt 2015 focuses in particular on Arabic translation of the Bible from the Syriac text, and gives wide space to linguistic comparisons. Samir and Monferrer-Sala 2013 gathers a number of contributions on both the Old and New Testaments. Illustrations can also be a valuable source for tracing back ancient versions of the biblical text, as Bernabò, et al. 2017 suggests.
  496.  
  497. Bernabò, Massimo, in collaboration with Sara Fani, Margherita Farina, and Ida G. Rao. “Le miniature del Vangelo arabo della Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana di Firenze, codice Orientali 387 (Mardin, 1299 d.C.).” Orientalia Christiana Periodica 83.2 (2017): 293–447.
  498.  
  499. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  500.  
  501. This contribution focuses on the illustrations of an Arabic Gospel in the Laureziana Library (Florence). These illustrations, neglected until now, are treated as proper documents on the history of the origins and the textual tradition of the Gospel in Arabic. Their study points toward an ancient Syriac version.
  502.  
  503. Find this resource:
  504.  
  505. Binay, Sara, and Stefan Leder, eds. Translating the Bible into Arabic: Historical, Text-Critical and Literary Aspects. Beiruter Texte und Studien 131. Beirut: Orient-Institut Beirut, 2012.
  506.  
  507. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  508.  
  509. A miscellaneous volume of ten contributions (in English and Arabic) in which manuscripts and books containing translations of the Bible are considered and scrutinized.
  510.  
  511. Find this resource:
  512.  
  513. Griffith, Sidney H. The Bible in Arabic: The Scriptures of the “People of the Book” in the Language of Islam. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2013.
  514.  
  515. DOI: 10.1515/9781400846580Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  516.  
  517. Focuses on the history, reception, and translations of the Bible in the Islamic lands, from pre-Islamic to modern times, through a wide variety of sources.
  518.  
  519. Find this resource:
  520.  
  521. Guidi, Ignazio. Le traduzioni dei Vangeli in arabo e in etiopico. Rome: Tipografia della R. Accademia dei Lincei, 1888.
  522.  
  523. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  524.  
  525. The first, pioneering contribution to the study of the Arabic translations of the Bible.
  526.  
  527. Find this resource:
  528.  
  529. Hjälm, Miriam, ed. Senses of Scripture, Treasures of Tradition: The Bible in Arabic among Jews, Christians and Muslims. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, 2017.
  530.  
  531. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  532.  
  533. A rich and useful collection of twenty-one contributions, originally lectures from an international congress, embracing almost all of the Dar al-Islam territories from the first centuries of Islam up to contemporary times, with a particular focus on Jewish and Christian materials.
  534.  
  535. Find this resource:
  536.  
  537. Hoyland, Robert. “The Jewish and Christian Audience of the Qur’ān and the Arabic Bible.” In Jewish Christianity and the Origin of Islam: Papers Presented at the Colloquium Held in Washington DC, October 29–31, 2015 (8th ASMEA Conference). Edited by F. del Río Sánchez, 31–40. Turnhout, Belgium: Brepols, 2018.
  538.  
  539. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  540.  
  541. A paper that reconsiders the Qurʾanic text in light of biblical traditions and moves the focus from Hijaz to the Syro-Mesopotamian and Palestinian area for the incubation of an Arabic Bible.
  542.  
  543. Find this resource:
  544.  
  545. La Spisa, Paolo. “Cross Palaeographic Traditions: Some Examples from Old Christian Arabic Sources.” In Creating Standards: Interaction with Arabic Script in 12 Manuscript Cultures. Edited by D. Bondarev, A. Gori and M. L. Souag, 93–109. Studies in Manuscript Cultures 16. Berlin: De Gruyter, 2019.
  546.  
  547. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  548.  
  549. A paper in which the early Palestinian translations of the Bible (8th century) are reconsidered from a linguistic and paleographic point of view.
  550.  
  551. Find this resource:
  552.  
  553. Samir, Khalil Samir, and Juan Pedro Monferrer-Sala, eds. Graeco-Latina et Orientalia: Studia in honorem Angeli Urbani heptagenarii. Córdoba, Spain: CEDRAC, 2013.
  554.  
  555. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  556.  
  557. Includes six contributions on Arabic translations of the Pentateuch, the Epistles, and the Gospels.
  558.  
  559. Find this resource:
  560.  
  561. Thomas, David, ed. The Bible in Arab Christianity. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, 2007.
  562.  
  563. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  564.  
  565. A collection of nineteen papers dealing with the Arabic version of the Old and New Testament, Islamic commentaries, illustrations, intellectual history, the Bible, and the Qurʾan.
  566.  
  567. Find this resource:
  568.  
  569. Vollandt, Ronny. Arabic Versions of the Pentateuch: A Comparative Study of Jewish, Christian, and Muslim Sources. Leiden, The Netherlands, and Boston: Brill, 2015.
  570.  
  571. DOI: 10.1163/9789004289932Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  572.  
  573. Provides documented research of the historical contexts in which the Arabic versions of the Pentateuch emerged, and a textual study of the Arabic translations of the Syriac Peshitta, with the use of a number of manuscript witnesses.
  574.  
  575. Find this resource:
  576.  
  577. The Book in Islamic Culture
  578. The prestige of the oral tradition in Islamic societies and their respect for the written word are mirrored by different practices and attitudes toward books. Schoeler 2006 analyzes the complex relation between the oral word and the written text in the first Islamic centuries. The existence in the Islamic world of repositories of book and document fragments, which have been compared to genizah-like deposits, discloses a great variety of manuscript materials. D’Ottone 2013 examines the case of the Syrian Qubbat al-Khazna. Krätli and Lydon 2011 opens a wide window on the book trade and the dissemination of texts and ideas in Africa, while Brigagli and Nobili 2017 opens up a promising field with a holistic approach to sub-Saharan manuscripts. Medieval documents are the center of attention of the collective volume L’autorité de l’écrit au Moyen Age (2009). On a regional scale, Messick 1993 proposes a sociocultural interpretation of the written documents produced in modern Yemen.
  579.  
  580. Afshar, Iraj. “Manuscripts in the Domain of the Persian Language.” In General Introduction to Persian Literature. Edited by J. T. P. de Brujin, 408–429. London and New York: I. B. Tauris, 2009.
  581.  
  582. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  583.  
  584. A short overview on Persian manuscripts, touching, in eleven sections, on different aspects of manuscript production and editing.
  585.  
  586. Find this resource:
  587.  
  588. Brigagli, Andrea, and Mauro Nobili, eds. The Arts and Crafts of Literacy: Islamic Manuscript Cultures in Sub-Saharan Africa. Studies in Manuscript Cultures 12. Berlin: De Gruyter, 2017.
  589.  
  590. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  591.  
  592. A most welcome study of sub-Saharan African manuscripts, dealing with various aspects (not only textual) of these codices.
  593.  
  594. Find this resource:
  595.  
  596. Bührer-Thierry, Geneviève, Sylvie Denoix, Anne-Marie Eddé, et al. L’autorité de l’écrit au Moyen Age (Orient et Occident): XXXIXe Congrès de la SHMESP (Le Caire, 30 avril–5 mai 2008). Paris: Publications de la Sorbonne, 2009.
  597.  
  598. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  599.  
  600. A comparative perspective brings together almost thirty papers dealing with documents and archival materials written in the various languages (Latin, Arabic, Italian, etc.) in use in the Mediterranean area in the Middle Ages.
  601.  
  602. Find this resource:
  603.  
  604. D’Ottone, Arianna. “Manuscripts as Mirrors of a Multilingual and Multicultural Society: The Case of the Damascus Find.” In Negotiationg Co-existence: Communities, Cultures and Convivencia in Byzantium Society. Edited by Barbara Crostini Lappin and Sergio La Porta, 63–88. Trier, Germany: Wissenschaftlicher Verlag, 2013.
  605.  
  606. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  607.  
  608. An account of the circumstances of the discovery of a large Islamic deposit of manuscript fragments and an overview on its content.
  609.  
  610. Find this resource:
  611.  
  612. Ghersetti, Antonella and Alex Metcalfe, eds. Special Issue: The Book in Fact and Fiction in Pre-Modern Arabic Literature. Journal of Arabic and Islamic Studies 12 (2002).
  613.  
  614. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  615.  
  616. A very instructive volume gathering nine contributions that throw light on different facets of book production, consumption, and diffusion, including the circulation of magical texts and juridical recommendations to copyists and booksellers.
  617.  
  618. Find this resource:
  619.  
  620. Günther, Sebastian. “‘… nor have I learned it from any book of theirs’: Abū-l-Faraj al-Iṣfahānī: A Medieval Arabic Author at Work.” In Islamstudien ohne Ende: Festschrift für den Islamwissenschaftler Werner Ende. Edited by Rainer Brunner, et al., 139–153. Würzburg, Germany: Deutsche Morgenlandische Gesellschaft, 2002.
  621.  
  622. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  623.  
  624. An interesting paper that highlights the various sources—written, orally transmitted, and purely oral ones—employed by a medieval author, Abu-l-Faraj al-Isfahani (d. 356/967), through the scrutiny of the text of the Kitāb maqātil al-Ṭālibiyyīn (The book of the killing of the Talibids), his second most important work after the Kitāb al-aghānī (Book of songs).
  625.  
  626. Find this resource:
  627.  
  628. Hollenberg, David, Christoph Rauch, and Sabine Schmidtke, eds. The Yemeni Manuscript Tradition. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, 2015.
  629.  
  630. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  631.  
  632. A collective volume gathering nine texts illuminating some peculiarities of the Yemeni manuscript production and intellectual history.
  633.  
  634. Find this resource:
  635.  
  636. Krätli, Graziano, and Ghislaine Lydon, eds. The Trans-Saharan Book Trade: Manuscript Culture, Arabic Literacy and Intellectual History in Muslim Africa. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, 2011.
  637.  
  638. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  639.  
  640. A valuable collection of ten chapters about the history of the book, book collectors and private collections, the book trade, libraries, book conservation, education, and literacy in Africa from the 15th century to modern times.
  641.  
  642. Find this resource:
  643.  
  644. Messick, Brinkley. The Calligraphic State: Textual Domination and History in a Muslim Society. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1993.
  645.  
  646. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  647.  
  648. A pioneering work focused on the relationship between the written layout of Yemeni documents and their contents.
  649.  
  650. Find this resource:
  651.  
  652. Pfeiffer, Judith, and Manfred Kropp. Theoretical Approaches to the Transmission and Edition of Oriental Manuscripts: Proceedings of a Symposium held in Istanbul—March 28–30, 2001. Beirut: Ergon Verlag, 2007.
  653.  
  654. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  655.  
  656. Eighteen texts that match and go beyond the ample field indicated in the title, including papers on private libraries, the relation between oral and written traditions, translations, and illustrated manuscripts.
  657.  
  658. Find this resource:
  659.  
  660. Schoeler, Gregor. The Oral and Written in Early Islam. Translated by Uwe Vagelpohl. Edited and introduced by James E. Montgomery. London: Routledge 2006.
  661.  
  662. DOI: 10.4324/9780203965313Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  663.  
  664. English translation of six essays originally written in German. Thought-provoking volume on the transmission of knowledge and the relation between oral and written modalities of recording it through the analysis of a wide range of different disciplines (from Hadiths to Arabic grammar through the transmission of scientific knowledge) and sources.
  665.  
  666. Find this resource:
  667.  
  668. Public and Private Libraries
  669. Eche 1967 is a classical, general introduction to medieval Arabic libraries. Hirschler 2017 is an unavoidable study of the holdings of an Arabic medieval library. For mapping, through history, the presence of libraries in the Islamic lands, Gianni 2016 is an easy and smart guide. As for the private libraries of scholars, working in different periods and regions of the Dar al-Islam, crucial studies include Kohlberg 1992 for 13th-century Baghdad, Toorawa 2005 for 10th-century Baghdad, Scheiner 2017 for 12th-century Damascus, Liebrenz 2013 for 19th-century Syria, and Schmidtke 2018 for 20th-century Yemen.
  670.  
  671. Eche, Youssef. Les bibliothèques arabes publiques et semi-publiques en Mésopotamie, en Syrie et en Egypte au Moyen-Age. Damascus, Syria: Institut Français de Damas, 1967.
  672.  
  673. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  674.  
  675. A pioneering survey, now somewhat dated, and based mainly on literary sources, on the medieval Arabic libraries in the Middle East.
  676.  
  677. Find this resource:
  678.  
  679. Erünsal, İsmail E. Ottoman Libraries: A Survey of the History, Development and Organization of Ottoman Foundation Libraries. Cambridge, MA: Department of Near Eastern Languages and Literatures, Harvard University, 2008.
  680.  
  681. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  682.  
  683. A long-needed overview of Ottoman libraries, based on precious archival material, covering a wide span of time—from the 14th to the early 20th century. The book is aimed at nonspecialists in Ottoman history and accessible to non-Turkish readers as well.
  684.  
  685. Find this resource:
  686.  
  687. Gianni, Celeste. History of Libraries in the Islamic World: A Visual Guide. Fano, Italy: Gimiano Editore, 2016.
  688.  
  689. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  690.  
  691. A useful volume to gain a general overview of the salient geographical and chronological points in the history of libraries in the Islamic world.
  692.  
  693. Find this resource:
  694.  
  695. Hirschler, Konrad. Medieval Damascus: Plurality and Diversity in an Arabic Library—The Ashrafīya Library Catalogue. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2017.
  696.  
  697. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  698.  
  699. A fundamental study of the earliest known manuscript library catalogue in Arabic. The manuscript text is edited, translated, and commented on. Provides a rare insight into a 13th-century Syrian library, the Ashrafiya Library.
  700.  
  701. Find this resource:
  702.  
  703. Kohlberg, Ethan. A Medieval Muslim Scholar at Work: Ibn Ṭāwūs and His Library. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, 1992.
  704.  
  705. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  706.  
  707. Focuses on the private collection of a Shiʿite scholar and book collector, Ibn Tawus (d. 664/1266), whose library has been meticulously reconstructed employing the references quoted in fifty of his works.
  708.  
  709. Find this resource:
  710.  
  711. Liebrenz, Boris. “The Library of Aḥmad al-Rabbāṭ: Books and Their Audience in 12th to 13th/18th to 19th Century Syria.” In Marginal Perspectives on Early Modern Ottoman Culture: Missionaries, Travellers, Booksellers. Edited by Ralf Elger and Ute Pietruschka, 17–59. Halle (Saale), Germany: Zentrum für Interdisziplinäre Regionalstudien Vorderer Orient, Afrika, Asien (ZIRS), 2013.
  712.  
  713. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  714.  
  715. Insightful reconstruction of a rich private book collection of a little-known individual—a book-lender and artist—not recorded in the biographical dictionaries of his time. The library he built mirrors his interests and the taste of that part of the society not integrated into the Syrian intellectual life of Ottoman times, but still interested in books—popular as well as literary rarities.
  716.  
  717. Find this resource:
  718.  
  719. Scheiner, Jens J. “Ibn ‘Asākir’s Virtual Library as Reflected in his Ta’rīkh Madīnat Dimashq.” In New Perspectives on Ibn ‘Asākir in Islamic Historiography. Edited by Steven C. Judd and Jens J. Scheiner, 156–256. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, 2017.
  720.  
  721. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  722.  
  723. A lengthy and detailed work reconstructing the virtual library of one of the most influential Syrian authors, Ibn ʿAsakir (d. 571/1176).
  724.  
  725. Find this resource:
  726.  
  727. Schmidtke, Sabine. Traditional Yemeni Scholarship amidst Political Turmoil and War: Muḥammad B. Muḥammad B. Ismāʿīl B. Al-Muṭahhar Al-Manṣūr (1915–2016) and His Personal Library. Córdoba, Spain: UCOPress, 2018.
  728.  
  729. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  730.  
  731. An engaging work in which a wide number of sources (autograph notes, writings, certificates of transmissions, and manuscripts) are employed to examine the shelves of a private library and investigate the biography and the intellectual and historical milieu in which a contemporary Yemeni scholar was active.
  732.  
  733. Find this resource:
  734.  
  735. Toorawa, Shawkat M. Ibn Abī Ṭāhir Ṭayfūr and Arabic Writerly Culture: A Ninth-Century Bookman in Baghdad. London: RoutledgeCurzon, 2005.
  736.  
  737. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  738.  
  739. The work aims at providing a general overview of the writerly culture/adab in the Abbasid capital through the study of the life and works of Ibn Abi Tahir (d. 280/893), a polymath and bookman of Persian origins.
  740.  
  741. Find this resource:
  742.  
  743. Touati, Houari. L’Armoire à sagesse: Bibliothèques et collections en Islam. Paris: Aubier, 2003.
  744.  
  745. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  746.  
  747. Introduces the reader to the refined world of medieval private libraries and medieval book dealers and collectors through literary sources. An Italian translation is also available: Biblioteche di saggezza. Libro e collezionismo nell’Islam (Milan: Edizioni Sylvestre Bonnard, 2006).
  748.  
  749. Find this resource:
  750.  
  751. Medieval Arabic Block Printing and Early Printed Books in Europe
  752. This section illustrates the beginning of printing under the stimulus of different techniques coming from other regions, namely China (block printing) and Europe (printing with movable type). Wood-block printing (or xylography) is a technique of Chinese origin that was known and employed in the Islamic lands from the 3rd/9th to the 8th/14th centuries for the production of amulets but also in Hajj certificates. Schaefer 2006 provides a general introduction to xylography in the Islamic world; Muelhlhausler 2008 offers a very good edition of some amulets and highlights the connection with the magical tradition. Aksoy and Milstein 2000 illustrates and puts in historical context another type of material evidence for the block-printing technique used for Hajj certificates. Printing in Arabic characters with movable type is linked to Italy, where the first Arabic book (a Christian text known as Book of Hours, or Horologion [1514], see Gianni and Tagliabracci 2012), the first Qurʾan (1537 or 1538, see Nuovo 1990), and the first Persian alphabet (1633, see Izadpanah 2018) were published. Devoted to the multilingual book production of the Medici Press are Tinto 1987 and Fani and Farina 2016.
  753.  
  754. Aksoy, Şule, and Rachel Milstein. “A Collection of Thirteen-Century Illustrated Hajj Certificates.” In M. Ugur Derman Festschrift: Papers Presented on the Occasion of his Sixty-Fifth Birthday. Edited by İrvin Cemil Schick, 101–134. Istanbul, Turkey: Sabancı Universitesi, 2000.
  755.  
  756. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  757.  
  758. This interesting paper illustrates some Hajj certificates in which the block-printing technique was used for some “fixed parts,” mostly decorative, of these documents, which were “customized” with the details of the certificate holder.
  759.  
  760. Find this resource:
  761.  
  762. Bulliet, Richard. “Medieval Arabic Ṭarsh: A Forgotten Chapter in the History of Arabic Printing.” Journal of the American Oriental Society 107 (1987): 427–438.
  763.  
  764. DOI: 10.2307/603463Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  765.  
  766. A pioneering paper that stresses the lack of studies on block printing and gives a first overview of the relevant sources, such as Abu Dulaf al-Khazraji (10th century) and Safi al-Din al-Hilli (14th century).
  767.  
  768. Find this resource:
  769.  
  770. D’Ottone, Arianna. “A Far Eastern Type of Print Technique for Islamic Amulets from the Mediterranean: An Unpublished Example.” Scripta: An International Journal of Codicology and Palaeography 6 (2013): 67–74.
  771.  
  772. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  773.  
  774. The paper discusses a fragment of an Arabic amulet produced as a woodcut, and considers the technology of Islamic woodcuts and its links to the Far Eastern xylographic production.
  775.  
  776. Find this resource:
  777.  
  778. Fani, Sara, and Margherita Farina. “The Typographia Medicea and the Humanistic Perspective of Renaissance Rome.” In The Grand Ducal Medici and the Levant: Material Culture, Diplomacy, and Imagery in the Early Modern Mediterranean. Edited by Maurizio Arfaioli and Marta Caroscio, 169–177. Medici Archives Project 3. Turnhout, Belgium, and London: Harvey Miller Publishers, 2016.
  779.  
  780. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  781.  
  782. A fresh, in-depth, and well-documented study of the history of the Typographia Medicea (Medici Oriental Press).
  783.  
  784. Find this resource:
  785.  
  786. Gianni, Celeste, and Michele Tagliabracci. “Kitāb ṣalāt al-sawā’ī: Protagonisti, vicende ed ipotesi attorno al primo libro arabo stampato con caratteri mobili.” Culture del testo e del documento 13.38 (2012): 131–185.
  787.  
  788. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  789.  
  790. The essay reviews critically previous studies devoted to the first Arabic book printed with movable types, offers a historical contextualization of this first book, and investigates its patronage and bibliographic details (place and year of edition), providing new details on these matters.
  791.  
  792. Find this resource:
  793.  
  794. Izadpanah, Borna. “Early Persian Printing and Typefounding in Europe.” Journal of the Printing Historical Society 29 (2018): 87–124.
  795.  
  796. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  797.  
  798. A contribution focused on the (meager) history of printing in Persian. The author reconsiders the printing activity of the Medici and Propaganda Fide Presses in Rome and challenges the traditional data on the first Persian printings.
  799.  
  800. Find this resource:
  801.  
  802. Muelhlhausler, Marc. “Eight Arabic Block Prints from the Collection of Aziz S. Atiya.” Arabica 55 (2008): 528–582.
  803.  
  804. DOI: 10.1163/157005808X364580Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  805.  
  806. A very good edition of eight block-printed amulets in Arabic, followed by a discussion about the place of these objects within the larger Islamic magical tradition. The author also published a further specimen of a block-printed amulet with magic squares: “Math and Magic: A Block Printed Wafq Amulet from the Beinecke Library at Yale.” Journal of the American Oriental Society 130.4 (2010): 607–618.
  807.  
  808. Find this resource:
  809.  
  810. Nuovo, Angela. “A Lost Arabic Koran Rediscovered.” The Library, 6th series, 12.4 (December 1990): 273–292.
  811.  
  812. DOI: 10.1093/library/s6-12.4.273Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  813.  
  814. An English version of the Italian original, “Il Corano arabo ritrovato,” La bibliofilia 89 (1987): 237–271—a contribution devoted to the rediscovery of the first printed Qurʾan found in the library of the Franciscan Friars of San Michele in Isola (Venice).
  815.  
  816. Find this resource:
  817.  
  818. Schaefer, Karl. Enigmatic Charms: Medieval Arabic Block Printed Amulets in American and European Libraries and Museums. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, 2006.
  819.  
  820. DOI: 10.1163/9789047408529Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  821.  
  822. An introduction to the block-printed technique used in the Arab-Islamic world, providing a useful image repertory of fifty-five block-printed Arabic amulets.
  823.  
  824. Find this resource:
  825.  
  826. Tinto, Alberto. La tipografia medicea orientale. Lucca, Italy: Pacini Fazzi, 1987.
  827.  
  828. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  829.  
  830. A monograph on the first project of printed book production - a commercial venture established by Giovanni Battista Raimondi, with the purpose of producing printed texts destined to be sold in the Muslim East.
  831.  
  832. Find this resource:
  833.  
  834. History of Printing in the Islamic Lands
  835. Recent studies on the history of printing, such as Ayalon 2016, have challenged traditional explanations for the slow production of printed books with movable type in the Middle East, where the first printed book in Arabic dates back to early-17th-century Lebanon (Kreiser 2001) and early-18th-century Syria (Feodorov 2013). Other studies, such as Proudfoot 1993 and Sadgrove 2004, illustrate the early printed books from other regions of the Islamic world.
  836.  
  837. Ayalon, Ami. The Arabic Print Revolution: Cultural Production and Mass Readership. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2016.
  838.  
  839. DOI: 10.1017/CBO9781316584521Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  840.  
  841. A thought-provoking work that opens up new lines of research on book history and readership in the premodern and modern Middle East.
  842.  
  843. Find this resource:
  844.  
  845. Feodorov, Ioana. “Beginnings of Arabic Printing in Ottoman Syria (1706–1711): The Romanians’ Part in Athanasius Dabbās’s Achievements.” ARAM 25.1–2 (2013): 231–260.
  846.  
  847. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  848.  
  849. A compelling article on the genesis of the first printed books in Arabic in the Syrian region, a Psalter (1706 and 1709) and the Gospels (1706), and the active role of Bulos Dabbas in the connection of the Romanians to these books.
  850.  
  851. Find this resource:
  852.  
  853. Gdoura, Wahid. Le début de l’imprimerie arabe à Istanbul et en Syrie: Évolution de l’environnement culturel (1706–1787). Tunis, Tunisia: Institut Supérieur de Documentation, 1985.
  854.  
  855. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  856.  
  857. An introductory study on the beginning of printed book production in the Islamic lands, of which a revised edition in Arabic is also available: Qadura, Wahid. Bidāyat al-ṭibā‘a al-‘arabiyya fī Istanbul wa-bilād al- Šām: taṭawwur al-muḥīṭ al-ṯaqāfī (Tunis: Mansuūrat Markaz al-Dirasat wa-l-Buhut al-‘Utmaniyya wa-l-Muriskiyya wa-l-Tawtiq wa-l-Ma‘lumat, 1992).
  858.  
  859. Find this resource:
  860.  
  861. Hanebutt-Benz, Eva-Maria, Dagmar Glass, and Geoffrey Roper, eds. Middle Eastern Languages and the Print Revolution: A Cross-Cultural Encounter; A Catalogue and Companion to the Exhibition. Westhofen, Germany: WVA-Verlag Skulima, 2002.
  862.  
  863. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  864.  
  865. Twelve essays dealing with the history of printing in Oriental languages in Europe and in the Middle East. Of particular interest are the contributions on Arabic printed books and journals in the Arab world and on the printing history of Iran. Carsten Walbiner wrote a critical review of this volume in Oriens Christianus 88 (2004): 281–289.
  866.  
  867. Find this resource:
  868.  
  869. Kreiser, Kkaus, ed. The Beginnings of Printing in the Near and Middle East: Jews, Christians and Muslims. Wiesbaden, Germany: Harrassowitz Verlag, 2001.
  870.  
  871. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  872.  
  873. The catalogue of an exhibition in which the first printed book in the Arabic world—a bilingual Psalter in Syriac and Arabic, published in 1610 in Lebanon (at the Maronite monastery of St Anthony in Quzhayya)—was exhibited.
  874.  
  875. Find this resource:
  876.  
  877. Proudfoot, Ian. Early Malay Printed Books: A Provisional Account of Materials Published in the Singapore-Malaysia Area up to 1920, Noting Holdings in Major Public Collections. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: Academy of Malay Studies, 1993.
  878.  
  879. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  880.  
  881. A provisional yet extensive inventory (a little under 1,000 titles are listed) of the first printed books in Malay and other Southeast Asian languages.
  882.  
  883. Find this resource:
  884.  
  885. Roper, Geoffrey, ed. Historical Aspects of Printing and Publishing in Languages of the Middle East: Papers from the Symposium at the University of Leipzig, September 2008. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, 2014.
  886.  
  887. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  888.  
  889. A collection of thirteen papers, mostly dealing with the history of printing (books, journals, and newspapers) in the Islamic world, from medieval to contemporary times, in Europe, the Middle East, North Africa, and Latin America.
  890.  
  891. Find this resource:
  892.  
  893. Sadgrove, Philip, ed. Special Issue: History of Printing and Publishing in the Languages and Countries of the Middle East. Journal of Semitic Studies, Suppl. 15 (2004).
  894.  
  895. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  896.  
  897. A special number that brings together thirteen papers dealing with the history of printing in various regions (from Zanzibar to the Turkestan) and languages (Persian, Turkish, Arabic, Hebrew) of the Islamic world.
  898.  
  899. Find this resource:
  900.  
  901. Schwartz, Kathryn A. “Book History, Print and the Middle East.” History Compass 15.12 (2017): e12434.
  902.  
  903. DOI: 10.1111/hic3.12434Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  904.  
  905. An article in which the influence of the modern European view on the history of printing in the Middle East is discussed and questioned.
  906.  
  907. Find this resource:
  908.  
  909. Conservation and Digitization
  910. Conservation represents a further aspect of book studies. A number of congresses have recently been devoted to the analysis of the materials (papers, inks, pigments, etc.) employed in the manuscript production, and to which restorers and chemists contributed. Slogget 2008 gathers the papers given at a congress devoted to the conservation of Middle Eastern manuscripts. Digitization is often perceived as a way of preserving manuscripts and precious printed books, as making their contents available through images reduces the need to handle the real objects, except for codicological or bibliological enquiries. Digitization projects of entire collections of manuscripts and early printed books, or of selected material from one or more libraries, or with a regional focus, are listed in websites such as AMIR or DMMapp. Muhanna 2016 is an interesting collection of papers dealing with different aspects of digital humanities applied to Islamic manuscripts, documents, and printed books. A thorough reflection on the achievements, and the limits, of manuscript digitization is provided in Kropf 2016.
  911.  
  912. Kropf, Evyn. “Will That Surrogate Do? Reflections on Material Literacy in the Digital Environment from Islam Manuscripts at the University of Michigan Library.” Journal for Manuscript Studies 1.1 (Spring 2016): 52–70.
  913.  
  914. DOI: 10.1353/mns.2016.0007Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  915.  
  916. A contribution about the potential impact of digitization on manuscript studies, on the one hand, and a caveat about the exclusive use of digitized manuscripts, on the other.
  917.  
  918. Find this resource:
  919.  
  920. Muhanna, Elias, ed. The Digital Humanities and Islamic and Middle East Studies. Berlin: De Gruyter, 2016.
  921.  
  922. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  923.  
  924. Eleven papers considering the goals and the challenges of digital humanities through the experience of specific projects or case studies.
  925.  
  926. Find this resource:
  927.  
  928. Scheper, Karin. The Technique of Islamic Bookbinding: Methods, Materials and Regional Varieties. Islamic Manuscripts and Books 8. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, 2018.
  929.  
  930. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  931.  
  932. A monograph devoted to the history and techniques of Islamic bookbinding.
  933.  
  934. Find this resource:
  935.  
  936. Schmidtke, Sabine, and Jan Thiele. Preserving Yemen’s Cultural Heritage: The Yemeni Manuscript Digitization Project/Hifzan ‘alà turath al-Yaman al-thaqāfī: Mashrū‘raqmanat al-makhtūtāt al-yamaniyya. Sanaa, Yemen: Botschaft der Bundesrepublik Deutschlands, 2011
  937.  
  938. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  939.  
  940. An English and Arabic text that illustrates a project of safeguarding and digitization of Yemeni manuscripts.
  941.  
  942. Find this resource:
  943.  
  944. Slogget, Robyn, ed. Contributions to the Symposium on the Care and Conservation of Middle Eastern Manuscripts: The University of Melbourne, Australia, 26–28 November 2007. Melbourne: Centre for Cultural Materials Conservation, 2008.
  945.  
  946. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  947.  
  948. A miscellaneous volume presenting a wide range of papers on different aspects of Middle Eastern manuscript conservation.
  949.  
  950. Find this resource:
  951.  
  952. Viguera Molins, María Jesús, and Concepión Castillo, eds. Los manuscritos árabes en España y Marruecos: Homenaje de Granada y Fez a Ibn Jaldún. Granada, Spain: Consejería de Cultura de la Junta de Andalucía, 2006.
  953.  
  954. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  955.  
  956. A rich volume gathering twenty-nine papers, mainly in Spanish and some in Arabic, focused on the collections of Arabic manuscripts in Spain and Morocco, with contributions also devoted to the analysis of written materials and digitization projects.
  957.  
  958. Find this resource:
  959.  
  960. Journals
  961. This section lists journals that focus on manuscripts and book studies.
  962.  
  963. Chroniques du manuscrit au Yémen. 2006–
  964.  
  965. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  966.  
  967. A peer-reviewed and international journal in which research on manuscripts—from Yemen and the Arabian Peninsula—is published.
  968.  
  969. Find this resource:
  970.  
  971. Comparative Oriental Manuscript Studies Bulletin. 2011–.
  972.  
  973. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  974.  
  975. A peer-reviewed international journal (articles and notes) with a wide section about new publications (reviews), research projects, and congresses (conference reports) of particular interest for Oriental studies. Formerly called the COMST Newsletter.
  976.  
  977. Find this resource:
  978.  
  979. Gazette du livre médieval. 1982–2014.
  980.  
  981. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  982.  
  983. A journal dealing with medieval manuscripts and printed books—mainly Western ones—but welcoming and hosting contributions from experts and researchers in different cultural and linguistic areas (e.g., Arabic and Persian manuscripts and books).
  984.  
  985. Find this resource:
  986.  
  987. Journal of Islamic Manuscripts. 2010–.
  988.  
  989. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  990.  
  991. A relatively young but very useful and unavoidable journal for all those interested in the study of Islamic manuscripts.
  992.  
  993. Find this resource:
  994.  
  995. Journal of Qur’anic Studies. 1999–.
  996.  
  997. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  998.  
  999. A journal devoted to Qurʾanic studies that also includes contributions on Qurʾanic manuscripts.
  1000.  
  1001. Find this resource:
  1002.  
  1003. Majallat Ma ‘had al-makhtūtāt al-‘arabiyya (Journal of the Institute of Arabic Manuscripts). 1947–.
  1004.  
  1005. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1006.  
  1007. A long-run journal (in Arabic) devoted to the study of Arabic manuscripts (texts, scripts, history, materials), linked to the prestigious Institute of Arabic Manuscripts (Cairo). It also publishes translations in Arabic of articles originally written in other languages (English, French, etc.).
  1008.  
  1009. Find this resource:
  1010.  
  1011. Manuscript Cultures. 2008–.
  1012.  
  1013. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1014.  
  1015. An international journal with articles and reviews devoted to Oriental manuscripts (from China to the Near East).
  1016.  
  1017. Find this resource:
  1018.  
  1019. Manuscripta Orientalia: International Journal for Oriental Manuscript Research. 1995–.
  1020.  
  1021. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1022.  
  1023. An international journal focused on the study of codicology, paleography, and texts of Oriental codices, with a special focus on lesser-known materials (manuscripts and documents) housed in archives, museums, and libraries in Russia and in the countries of the former USSR.
  1024.  
  1025. Find this resource:
  1026.  
  1027. Manuscripts of the Middle East: A Journal Devoted to the Study of Handwritten Materials of the Middle East. 1986–1994.
  1028.  
  1029. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1030.  
  1031. Well-illustrated journal encompassing all the handwritten material produced in in the Middle East, with many contributions on codicology (especially of Arabic manuscripts) mostly by Western researchers.
  1032.  
  1033. Find this resource:
  1034.  
  1035. Nāme-ye Bahārestān: Majalle-ye moṭāle ‘āt va taḥqīqāt-e noskhe-hā-ye khaṭṭī/Nāmeh-ye Bahārestān. An Iranian International Journal for Islamic Manuscripts Research. 2000–.
  1036.  
  1037. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1038.  
  1039. A journal, regularly issued, that is very important for research on Persian and Arabic manuscripts. The articles are mostly in Persian, but also in English at times.
  1040.  
  1041. Find this resource:
  1042.  
  1043. Digital Resources
  1044. Web pages devoted to Arabic manuscripts and Arabic books have different goals and intents, providing a choice that gives access to other digital resources and links, as well as to online courses and reading lists.
  1045.  
  1046. Abstracta Iranica
  1047.  
  1048. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1049.  
  1050. A useful journal that includes reviews of books, articles, and journals dealing with Persian manuscripts, books, and culture in the widest sense. Exisitng since 1978 in paper format, Abstracta Iranica is nowadays available only online.
  1051.  
  1052. Find this resource:
  1053.  
  1054. Access to Mideast and Islamic Resources (AMIR).
  1055.  
  1056. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1057.  
  1058. An alphabetical list of open access Islamic manuscripts collections, with links to the collections.
  1059.  
  1060. Find this resource:
  1061.  
  1062. Bausi, Alessandro, Pier Giorgio Borbone, Françoise Briquel-Chatonnet, et al. Comparative Oriental Manuscript Studies: An Introduction. Hamburg: Tredition, 2015.
  1063.  
  1064. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1065.  
  1066. This site provides access to the full text of this volume, which includes a number of contributions on Oriental manuscript production (codicology, paleography, edition of texts) in various languages (Greek, Armenian, Hebrew, Arabic, Georgian).
  1067.  
  1068. Find this resource:
  1069.  
  1070. British Library. Asian and African Studies Blog.
  1071.  
  1072. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1073.  
  1074. The British Library’s Asian and African Studies Blog discusses, among many other subjects, Islamic manuscripts (e.g. Persian, Malay), which are commented on by curators and researchers.
  1075.  
  1076. Find this resource:
  1077.  
  1078. Consulting Medieval Manuscripts Online.
  1079.  
  1080. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1081.  
  1082. A website hosted by the University of Toronto devoted to listing websites of libraries that have digitized medieval manuscripts. There is no focus on Islamic ones in particular, but the list includes useful links.
  1083.  
  1084. Find this resource:
  1085.  
  1086. Corpus Coranicum.
  1087.  
  1088. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1089.  
  1090. The website of a project based at the Berlin-Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenshaften devoted to the study and documentation of the Qurʾanic text through early manuscripts.
  1091.  
  1092. Find this resource:
  1093.  
  1094. Al-Furqan Islamic Heritage Foundation.
  1095.  
  1096. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1097.  
  1098. The website of a foundation based in London that promoted the World Survey of Islamic Manuscripts.
  1099.  
  1100. Find this resource:
  1101.  
  1102. Islamic Books.
  1103.  
  1104. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1105.  
  1106. “A Research Blog about Manuscripts, Printed Books and Ephemera in Arabic Script,” this blog is written by Dagmar Riedel at Columbia University.
  1107.  
  1108. Find this resource:
  1109.  
  1110. Islamic Manuscripts.
  1111.  
  1112. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1113.  
  1114. The site is moderated by Jan Just Witkam, emeritus-professor of paleography and codicology of the Islamic world at Leiden University, and dedicated to the world of the Islamic manuscript, with a course in Islamic paleography.
  1115.  
  1116. Find this resource:
  1117.  
  1118. Islamic Manuscript Studies.
  1119.  
  1120. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1121.  
  1122. A reading list dedicated to Islamic manuscript studies, updated and edited by Evyn Kropf, University of Michigan.
  1123.  
  1124. Find this resource:
  1125.  
  1126. Islamic Painted Page.
  1127.  
  1128. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1129.  
  1130. A free database on the Islamic arts of the book (Arabic, Persian, Ottoman, Mughal), run by the University of Hamburg, that is useful in locating printed reproductions, commentaries, and web links for Islamic paintings.
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