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

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.