![]() ![]() Few of these signs, notes, and marks survived into printed books: they have become a code that now needs deciphering. Perusing a manuscript, we will find unusual signs above and below words, intended to alert readers to matters of significance, and densely written notes sprawled across margins and titlepages convey other key indicators. ![]() Unlike printing presses, individual copyists had their own idiosyncrasies, and manuscripts also exhibit conventions now alien to modern readers. Marginal notes and marks explaining variations in a collection of the Prophet’s hadith (for more see Mouse&Manuscript Lessons 11-13)Įntering the books of the ‘Manuscript Age’ is a challenge, for we behold a very foreign space. Urban literacy rates were high, books were as cherished as they were widespread, and manuscripts are amongst the most important tangible cultural property which these peoples left for us to appreciate. Studying manuscripts also has the advantage of opening new windows into pre-modern Middle Eastern society and culture itself, since medieval Cairo, Baghdad, Samarkand, and elsewhere were worlds very much defined by their manuscripts. The future of studying Middle Eastern history leads through fresh enquiry into the sources, and teaching techniques to study the old books are required to guide students on their way. Some disparities between original manuscripts and modern printings will not be radical, and some modern editors were very careful to produce good editions, but researchers who rely on nuances of text to develop interpretations about the past will benefit from visiting the old manuscript depositories. When we quote authors from the past we are accordingly several steps removed from what they wrote, and our printed Arabic texts are thus prime examples of books which cannot be judged definitively by their contents. ![]() An edition of an Arabic classic today therefore may or may not reflect the text preserved in its manuscripts, and those manuscripts in turn may or may not accurately reflect the original author’s intentions, either. However, these modern editions were quite often produced without careful consultation of the full range of the source manuscripts. Today, manuscripts are seldom read: the old books have been reproduced in printed editions, many now digitised and readily Internet-searchable. One of the greatest challenges to aspiring Arabic knowledge-seekers is the potential disconnect between the old manuscripts and the resources we now use to study classical Arabic culture and Islam. Ibn Nubāta’s "Pasturing at the Wellsprings of Knowledge," replete with notes left by past generations of owners (for more, see Mouse&Manuscript Lesson 21) A reader needs to navigate the faults, some little and some big, to help interpret these books. ![]() These manuscripts contain the outpouring of knowledge for which Muslim societies are justifiably proud, but since all manuscripts were copied by hand, and since erring is one of humanity’s core traits, any given manuscript is necessarily some parts knowledge, and other parts error. Their legacy is millions of manuscripts now stored in libraries, museums, and family collections around the world. Before printing presses were established in the Middle East around the mid-nineteenth century, manuscript-makers had been copying books prodigiously since the early Middle Ages. Muslim societies from Timbuktu to Transoxiana were avowed bibliophiles, and writing books was a major and signature component of their cultural production. This wrinkle puts a particular challenge to those wishing to deepen their understanding of Muslim culture and history. But what they don’t tell us is that sometimes we cannot even judge a book by its contents. But for those who are not in Switzerland, the website includes almost every one of the items they have on sale (including the aforementioned manuscripts), so you can take a free look.We have all heard the sound advice that we cannot judge a book by its cover. Jörn Günther Rare Books Gallery in Basel. The Christmas Exhibition will be open from December 6 to 16, Monday to Friday, from 10 a.m. This Christmas, the gallery in Basel (Switzerland) will exhibit some extremely rare, unique examples of illuminated medieval manuscripts and early printed Renaissance books.Īccording to the note published by, the exhibition will include the famous Histoire Ancienne(an exceptionally decorated chronicle that scholars assume was made for the French king at the end of the 14th century), the Flemish masterpiece The Crawford Book of Hours (illustrated by the “Prayerbook Master” around the year 1500), and a rare Flemish psalter from the 13th century. Jörn Günther Rare Books, one of the leading private dealers in medieval and Renaissance manuscripts, miniatures, and rare prints in general. If you are into medieval manuscripts, you have heard of Dr. ![]()
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