Bibliotheca Arabica – A Digital Home for the Arabic Manuscript Tradition

A Near Eastern Studies and Digital Scholarship Conversations @IAS Joint Lecture

Speakers:
Verena Klemm (Institute of Arabic Studies, University of Leipzig, Germany)
Stefanie Brinkmann (Sächsische Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Leipzig) 
Boris Liebrenz (Sächsische Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Leipzig) 
Thomas Efer (Sächsische Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Leipzig)

Arabic literatures are usually studied as purely creative products, a body of texts disembodied from their material life. Bibliotheca Arabica, in contrast, focusses on the context, the production, transmission, and reception of the manuscripts that for centuries carried the works we study today. Knowing what was copied, read, endowed, or owned when, where, and by whom, offers new perspectives on this immensely rich tradition. However, such a research agenda requires the collection, cross-reference, normalization, and visualization of widely diverse data created over more than one and a half millennia.

The long-term perspective of the Academy Program offers a unique environment to tackle such an ambitious task for an extended period. Over 18 years, the collection of data culled from biographical dictionaries, catalogues, and original manuscript research will enable sharply focused studies (the fate of single books or libraries) as well as broader overviews (literary trends and centers). The project’s database as a combination of bio-bibliography and manuscript reference, including a systematic collection and edition of manuscript notes, will provide a versatile tool not only for our own research agenda, but for the field as a whole.

This presentation will offer an overview of the scope, progress, and challenges of Bibliotheca Arabica, illuminated through exemplary case studies of libraries and marginal commentaries. It will showcase the database tools that are being developed as the backbone of our analytical endeavor.