Introduction to Islamicate Manuscripts

Course Description

Though the arts of the manuscript book constitute one of the most vital forms of artistic creativity and practice within the Islamic world, they have received relatively little attention within the general field of manuscript studies in Europe and America. This course provides an introduction to the history of Islamicate manuscripts and the constituent arts of calligraphy, illumination, illustration, and binding from the origins of Islam in the seventh century through the early modern period (sixteenth and seventeenth centuries), encompassing the full range of historical cultures (Arab, Persian, Turkish, and Indian). Within a chronological framework, course topics include: the codicology of Islamic manuscripts (materials and techniques); issues of text, style, iconography, meaning, and aesthetics; and the human dimension of manuscript production (collaboration between artists of diverse crafts in a workshop setting, the role of patrons in supporting the bookmaking enterprise over the centuries). The course will be taught primarily through the rich collection of Islamicate manuscripts at the Free Library of Philadelphia, with a one-day visit to the University of Pennsylvania manuscript collection. In their application statements, students should describe the extent of their general background in manuscript studies and give their reasons for wishing to take this course. Some familiarity with Islamic history and culture is desirable, though it is not a course prerequisite. Click here to view the course description for the virtual version of this course.

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Advance Reading List

General Cultural Orientation

All readings on this list are optional. They will give you some background if you feel you need it before we begin the class.

Bloom, Jonathan, and Sheila Blair. Islam: A Thousand Years of Faith and Power. New York: TV Books, 2000.

Cook, Michael. The Koran: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: OUP, 2000. Particularly 3 & 4.

Internet Islamic History Sourcebook https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/islam/islamsbook.asp

Lapidus, Ira M. A History of Islamic Societies. 3^rd ed. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2014.

Robinson, Neal. Islam: A Concise Introduction. Richmond (UK): Curzon Press, 1999.

Wright, Elaine. Islam: Faith, Art, Culture. London: Scala Publishers. 2009.

Islamic Book Culture

Atiyeh, George N. ed. The Book in the Islamic World: The Written Word and Communication in the Middle East. Albany: SUNY Press, 1995. See especially Franz Rosenthal, “‘Of Making Many Books There is No End’: The Classical Muslim View,” 33–55.

Blair, Sheila S. and Jonathan Bloom. “The Islamic World,” in The Oxford Illustrated History of the Book, edited by James Raven, 195–220. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2020.

Gruber, Christine J., ed. The Islamic Manuscript Tradition: Ten Centuries of Book Arts in Indiana University Collections. Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana University Press, 2010. Chapter 1.

Hirschler, Konrad. The Written Word in the Medieval Arabic Lands: A Social and Cultural History of Reading Practices. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2012. Chapter 1 and Conclusion.

Roper, Geoffrey. “The History of the Book in the Muslim World,” in Oxford Companion to the Book, edited by Michael Suarez and H.R. Woudhuysen, Section 38. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010. Reprinted in The Book: A Global History, edited by Michael Suarez and H.R. Woudhuysen. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013.  

Islamic Manuscripts: Codicology , Materials and Techniques

Bloom, Jonathan. Paper Before Print: The History and Impact of Paper in the Islamic World. New York: Yale University Press, 2001.

Bosch, Gulnar, et al. Islamic Bindings and Bookmaking. Chicago: Oriental Institute, 1981. See pages 1-84 for an overview of manuscript production. Download here: https://oi.uchicago.edu/research/publications/islamic-studies

Deroche, François, ed. Islamic Codicology: An Introduction to the Study of Manuscripts in Arabic Script. London: Al-Furqan Islamic Heritage Foundation, 2006.

Ekhtiar, Maryam D. How to Read Islamic Calligraphy. New York: The MET, 2018.

Gacek, Adam, Arabic Manuscripts: A Vademecum for Readers. Leiden: Brill, 2009. [Handbook]

Online Resources

Manuscripts of the Muslim World project:

Islamic Manuscripts in the Free Library of Philadelphia, the University of Pennsylvania, Columbia University and other Philadelphia area repositories, cataloged and digitized. http://openn.library.upenn.edu/html/muslimworld_contents.html

University of Michigan Library Research Guides: Islamic Manuscript Studies http://guides.lib.umich.edu/islamicmsstudies An invaluable resource, including listings of collections of Islamic manuscripts in North American, collections and catalogues online, and bibliography

Schoenberg Institute for Manuscript Studies website:Kislackcenter.github.io/islamicmss

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Course Evaluations

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Course History