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