The History of the Book in the Middle East

Contents: Introduction; Part I General and Introductory: Islamic book history: parameters of a discipline, Michael W. Albin; ’Of making many books there is no end’: the classical Muslim view, Franz Rosenthal. Part II Manuscripts: The script and book craft in the Hebrew medieval codex, Malachai Beit-Arié; Between the lines: realities of scribal life in the 16th century, Cornell H. Fleischer; Early Islamic bookbindings and their Coptic relations, Theodore C. Petersen; The human element between text and reader: the ijaza in Arabic manuscripts, Jan Just Witkam; Technical practices and recommendations recorded by classical and post-classical Arabic scholars concerning the copying and correction of manuscripts, Adam Gacek; The copyists’ working pace: some remarks towards a reflexion on the economy of the book in the Islamic world, François Déroche. Part III Introduction of Printing: From the manuscript age to the age of printed books, Muhsin Mahdi; A virgin deserving Paradise or a whore deserving poison: manuscript tradition and printed books in Ottoman Turkish society, Orlin Sabev (Orhan Salih); Mass producing houri’s moles: or aesthetics and choice of technology in early Muslim book printing, Ian Proudfoot; Medieval Arabic tarsh: a forgotten chapter in the history of printing, Richard W. Bulliet; Islamic reformist discourse in the Tulip period (1718-30): Ibrahim Müteferriqa and his arguments for printing, Stefan Reichmuth; The beginnings of Hebrew printing in Egypt, Diana Rowland-Smith. Part IV Printing Development and Print Culture: Hebrew printing houses in the Ottoman empire, Yaron Ben Na’eh; Arab booksellers and bookshops in the age of printing, 1850-1914, Ami Ayalon; On the question of lithography, Brinkley Messick; Rich men, poor men: Ottoman printers and booksellers making fortune or seeking survival (18th-19th centuries), Orlin Sabev (Orhan Salih); Functional perspectives on technology: the case of the printing press in the Ottoman empire, J.S. Szy