Medieval Damascus : plurality and diversity in an Arabic library : the Ashrafiya library catalogue / Konrad Hirschler.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Hirschler, Konrad, author.

Series:

Edinburgh studies in classical Islamic history and culture

Language:

Arabic

English

Subjects (All):

Arabic libraries--Syria--Damascus.

Arabic libraries.

Library catalogs--Syria--Damascus.

Library catalogs.

Syria--Damascus.

Genre:

Electronic books.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (525 pages, 54 unnumbered leaves of plates) : illustrations (black and white, and colour).

Place of Publication:

Edinburgh : Edinburgh University Press, 2016.

Language Note:

Includes text in Arabic.

System Details:

text file

Summary:

The written text was a pervasive feature of cultural practices in the medieval Middle East. At the heart of book circulation stood libraries that experienced a rapid expansion from the twelfth century onwards. While the existence of these libraries is well known, our knowledge of their content and structure has been very limited as hardly any medieval Arabic catalogues have been preserved. This book discusses the largest and earliest medieval library of the Middle East for which we have documentation - the Ashrafiya library in the very centre of Damascus - and edits its catalogue. The catalogue shows that even book collections attached to Sunni religious institutions could hold very diverse titles, including Mutazilite theology, Shiite prayers, medical handbooks, manuals for traders, stories from the 1001 Nights, and texts extolling wine consumption. At the same time this library catalogue decisively expands our knowledge of how books were thematically and spatially organised on the shelves of such a large medieval library. Listing over two thousand books the Ashrafiya catalogue is essential reading for anybody interested in the cultural and intellectual history of Arabic societies. Setting it into a comparative perspective with contemporaneous libraries on the British Isles opens new perspectives for the study of medieval libraries. Key Features. Includes an annotated translation of the Ashrafiya catalogue and full-colour facsimile reproduction of the catalogue's unique manuscript Seeing which books were held in the library give insights into text circulation and medieval 'bestsellers' The publication of the catalogue provides the first documentary material for comparative research with libraries in other world regions The organisation of the catalogue contributes to the discussion on how practitioners created systems and hierarchies of scholarly fields of knowledge

Contents:

1 The Making and Unmaking of a Medieval Library 17

2 Organising the Library: The Books on the Shelves 60

3 Plurality and Diversity: The Profile of a Medieval Library 102

4 The Ashrafiya Catalogue: Translation and Title Identification 133

5 The Ashrafiya Catalogue: Edition 441.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 468-495) and index.

Print version record.

Other Format:

Print version: Hirschler, Konrad. Medieval Damascus.

ISBN:

9781474408783

1474408788

9781474418812

1474418813

1474426395

9781474426398

OCLC:

946936543

Publisher Number:

10.3366/j.ctt1bgzc9c

Access Restriction:

Restricted for use by site license.