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

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 fr, en

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.