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