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