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