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