Scribal practice and the global cultures of colophons, 1400-1800 : [Workshop, Institute of Historical Research, University of London, 2018

“This is a tour de force of sophisticated global erudition.” ― Filippo de Vivo , University of Oxford, UK “In its wide global range and rich variety of studies, this expertly edited volume provides an unprecedented view into the scribal practices of diverse cultural traditions in the early modern period.” ― Johanna Drucker , University of California, Los Angeles, USA “This volume finally gives the colophon the place it deserves. We see scribes and printers at work in Thailand, the Deccan, Delhi, Damascus, Antwerp, and Timbuktu.” ― Konrad Hirschler, University of Hamburg, Germany “In this cross-disciplinary endeavor, ten authors tell lively and exciting stories of historical scribal practices.” ― Verena Klemm , University of Leipzig, Germany This book is the first to chart the global diversity of colophons between 1400 and 1800. The volume presents a new approach to scribal cultures that expands traditional definitions. Moving from the paradigm of codicological information towards a thorough interpretation of the wider social worlds of colophons in Africa, Asia, Europe, and North America, this volume uncovers the fascinating cultural history of early modern scribes. Chapters examine how those engaging in the composition and distribution of colophons shaped scribal identities, group cultures and bookish communities in a world in which manuscripts mattered. Authors build on approaches from anthropology, cultural studies, codicology, history, and philology to offer a new conceptual framework that studies colophons as scribal practices embedded in their changing social and cultural worlds. As a new contribution to the history of the book, this volume’s global approach pushes the boundaries of what constitutes a colophon. Preface and Acknowledgements Praise for Scribal Practice and the Global Cultures of Colophons, 1400–1800 Contents List of Contributors List of Figures List of Tables 1 Information, Interpretation, Interaction: Global Cultures of Colophons, c. 1400–1800 Colophons as Scribal Practices From Information to Interpretation Scribal Communities in the Early Modern World Identity-Making Through Colophons Community-Making Through Colophons From Interpretation to Interaction 2 A Prosopography in Circulation: Advertising Scribal Travails in Arabic Manuscripts Across Early Modern South Asia Scribal Communities and the Social Power of Colophons in Seventeenth-Century South Asia State Formation and the Use of Paper in Seventeenth-Century South Asia Colophons as Social Acts Prosopographies in Circulation 3 Lines of Loyalties and Early Modern Cultural Diversity: Colophons as Sites of Encounters Colophons and Cultural Encounters in the Early Modern World Encountering Each Other in Early Modern Europe: Paper Encounters, Bonds of Trust, and Subjectivity Encountering Others in the Early Modern World: Jesuit Missionaries and the Bonding Power of Colophons Encountering Each Other in Colonial New England: Indigenous Uses of Colophons in the Anglo-Native World Encountering Others and Other-Becoming in Early Modern Europe: Colophons of Muslim Converts and Amerindian Writers 4 How to Publish a Book in the Fifteenth-Century Middle East: The Case of Ibn Nāṣir al-Dīn’s ‘Abundant Refutation’ Book Distribution and the Function of Commendatory Statements Sources The First Stage: Publication The Second Stage: Distribution Attaining the Third Stage: From Distribution to Circulation Circulation After the Author’s Death Conclusion 5 Signatures of Authority: Colophons in Seventeenth-Century Melkite Circles in Aleppo Introduction The Struggle for Liturgical Unification in Aleppo’s Flourishing Melkite Community Thalja’s Colophons and Their Social Contexts Appeals to Ottoman Scribal Culture in Melkite Colophons? Conclusion Appendix 6 The Making of a Historian in Timbuktu: The Signed Marginalia Attributed to Maḥmūd Ka‘ti in the Fondo Kati Collection Introduction Maḥmūd Ka‘ti’s Life, “His” Chronicle, and His “Historical Notes” “Evidence” from the Chronicle “Evidence” from the Fondo Kati’s Marginalia 7 From Scribal Marks to Calligraphic Signatures? Print, Scribe, and Script in Early Modern European Writing Manuals Introduction Makers’ Marks on Early Calligraphy Manuals Calligraphic Signatures Conclusion 8 Poetry of the Scribes: Versified Colophons and Scribal Identity in Siamese Manuscript Culture Introduction Background to Siamese Manuscript Culture Tradition of Siamese Scribal Colophons Royal Scribal Colophons Monastic Colophons and Merit Announcements Colophons as Communication Tools with the Manuscript Readers Versified Scribal Colophons: The Scribe’s Signature and Identity Khlong Krathu: The Tradition of Heading Poems Scribes as Poets: Poetry and Identity Conclusion 9 Muslim Scribal Culture in India Around 1800: Towards a Disentangling of the Mughal Library and the Delhi Collection The Unravelling of a Colonial Myth Karim Allah Ibn Lutf Allah and His Scribal Practices Conclusion: Urdu Treatises Authored by Karim Allah and the Intellectual World of Pre-1857 Delhi Coda: On Looting, Scribal Annotations, and the Crumbling of the Colonial Myth of the “Integrity of the Archive” 10 In Absence of a Colophon: Alternative Signing Practices in Arabic Autograph Manuscripts Introduction Signing Practices in Ibn Ṭūlūn’s Autograph Corpus Dār Al-Kutub, MS 21,201 Bāʾ Signing Practices of the Manuscript’s Compiler: ʿAbd al-Salām al-Shaṭṭī (1840/41–1878/79) ʿAbd Al-Salām’s Engagements with MS 21,201 Bāʾ: A Chronology Acquiring the First Codicological Unit Compiling the Manuscript Reading in the Manuscript Conclusion 11 Remembering the Living and the Dead in Armenian Colophons: The Case of Bodleian MS Marsh 438 (I-III) Introduction Bodleian MS Marsh 438 (I-III) The Main Colophon Commemorative Notes Pleas for Remembrances Added at a Later Date Conclusion Colophon Bibliography Index