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.
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