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