Medieval and Modern Philologies

Authors as Readers in the Mamlūk Period and Beyond

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open access | peer reviewed

Abstract

Authors read and they use their readings within their writing process. Scrutinizing authors’ readings provides information on their tastes, working subjects at a given period, methodology, and scholarly milieu. It also brings a lot to intellectual history, highlighting the texts and manuscripts circulating in a certain context. Eight contributions investigating the readings of as many authors, from different points of view, are gathered here. The studied authors are mainly from pre-modern Islam – al-Qādī al-Fāḍil, Ibn Taymiyya, al-Ṣafadī, al-Subkī, al-Maqrīzī – with three exceptions: an incursion into the Ottoman 19th century – Esʿad Efendi –, a detour by the French court of Charles V – Evrart de Conty –, and a preface about Greek Antiquity – Philodème de Gadara.

Keywords Autograph manuscripts • Critical reading • Companions • Ǧumhūr al-ṣaḥāba • Library • Bilingualism • Copying • Mamlūk period • Collecting • Ašʿarī • Quoting • Methodology • Interrelation of writing and reading • Scholars’ library • Libraries • Books circulation • Ornate prose style • Paratext in manuscripts • Active and responsive reading • al-Ṣafadī • Ideal of affective relationship • Public reading • Intellectual independence • Authorship • Book circulation • Medieval commentary • Ottoman Mecmūʿa • Paratextual marks • Readings • Ottoman reading culture • Mutakallimūn • Book production • Arabic manuscripts • Commentaries • Consultation notes • Way of reading texts • Isnād • Marginalia • Autograph • ʿAhd Ardašīr • Pluri-maḏhab referencing • History of reading • Correspondence • Ṣaḥḥāflarşeyḫizāde Esʿad Efendi • Ottoman book history • Medieval translation • Intellectual history • Ownership statements • Scholars’ networks • Source methodology • al-Maqrīzī • Individual reading practices • Mamlūk scholars • Ǧamʿ al-ǧawāmiʿ • Taǧ al-Dīn al-Subkī • Mistakes • Authors’ methodology • Book loans • Literary tastes • Ottoman scholars’ reading practices • Conceptual framework of response

Thema codes GTB • NHTB • 3KL • 1QFA

Permalink http://doi.org/10.30687/978-88-6969-560-5 | e-ISBN 978-88-6969-560-5 | ISBN (PRINT) 978-88-6969-561-2 | Number of pages 326 | Dimensions 16x23cm | Published March 8, 2022 | Language fr, en

Copyright © 2022 Élise Franssen. This is an open-access work distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction is permitted, provided that the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. The license allows for commercial use. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.