Volume 29 of 'Studies in Manuscript Cultures' publishedLibraries in the Manuscript Age

23 February 2023

Photo: De Gruyter

There is a wealth of research on the history of libraries, but comparative studies on different traditions and periods are rare. The new volume of ‘Studies in Manuscript Cultures’ contributes to filling this gap. The juxtaposition of case studies brings out contrasts but also suggestive similarities

Research on libraries today, especially in Western languages, is at a similar stage to research on many historical subjects: A multitude of studies on ‘the Ancient World’ and Latin Western Europe and an increasing amount of research focusing on Byzantium and the Islamic world are contrasted by little work on libraries in Orthodox Eastern Europe, Sub-Saharan Africa, the Indic World, and East and Southeast Asia. Although substantial amount of research particularly on the latter areas is available, this research is predominantly in the languages of the region. The different traditions are thus separated by a language barrier, which makes the cross-cultural exchange of knowledge about ‘the library’ difficult to this day.

To help overcome the lack of comparative studies on libraries is the aim of Libraries in the Manuscript Age, the new edition of the Studies in Manuscript Cultures series. Edited by Nuria de Castilla, François Déroche, and Michael Friedrich, the issue brings together around a dozen contributions that shed light on the nature, purposes, and functions of various libraries in the Islamic world, East and Southeast Asia, Byzantium, and Western Europe from the third to the eighth centuries. This juxtaposition of different traditions and eras reveals important differences, but also remarkable convergences. For instance, ‘the association of libraries with places of power stands out clearly, more so than that which links them to religious institutions’, the editors write in the preface. ‘Under these conditions, knowledge often remained confidential, since imperial, royal or princely libraries were not open to the majority of the population.’

Like all previous volumes in the series, Libraries in the Manuscript Age is available as open access; all contributions can be downloaded from the publisher’s website.