The Last Decades of Arabic Manuscript Culture (1870–1930)

Coexistence and Interaction with Printing

2020–2023

FNT05

Modern squared paper and traditionally impressed blind rules vie for the authority to indicate the correct lines to write on. Arabic manuscript made in October 1916, probably intended as a draft for a printed edition, containing a medieval historiographical work. Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin – PK, Ms. or. fol. 3308/2, fol. 161r

Although printing in Arabic flourished from 1870 onwards, Islamic manuscripts in this language continued to be created until around 1930. This project investigates how Arabic manuscript culture adapted to these radically changing conditions. A corpus of approximately 670 manuscripts from German libraries is compared to works from the preceding era of manuscript production (1820–1870) and contemporary printed works (1870–1930). Among other things, this comparison is likely to shed some light on the specific strengths of manuscripts in relation to printing – strengths that have largely been lost.

People

Project lead: Tilman Seidensticker

Research Associate: Cornelius Berthold