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