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

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 en, fr

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.