Over the past several years, I have worked with private manuscript collections belonging to families in Jerba, Tunisia. The island is home to several well-known libraries, including those belonging to the Barouni (al-Bārūnī), Ben Yagoub (Bin Yaʿqūb), El Bessi (al-Bāsī), and Batour (al-Baʿṭūr) families. A lesser-known but equally important collection belonging to the Satouri (al-Ṣāṭūrī) … Continue reading Oddments from a “Nukkārī” Ibadi Library: the al-Ṣāṭūrī Library in Jerba, Tunisia | بقايا من مكتبة “نكارية”: مكتبة الصاطوري بجزيرة جربة (تونس)
Private Libraries
Intersections between Manuscript and Lithograph Cultures in Private Libraries | التداخلات بين ثقافتَي المخطوطات والطبعات الحجرية في المكتبات الخاصّة
Historians interested in Ibadi and other Arabic manuscripts (including me) often treat manuscripts separately from printed materials in private libraries. But in the second half of the 19th century, when Arabic lithography witnessed an explosion of production in urban centers like Cairo and Tunis, Ibadi manuscripts and lithographs (and other types of printing later) existed … Continue reading Intersections between Manuscript and Lithograph Cultures in Private Libraries | التداخلات بين ثقافتَي المخطوطات والطبعات الحجرية في المكتبات الخاصّة
Catalog of Ibadi & Other Arabic Manuscripts at the Association pour la sauvegarde de l’île de Djerba (ASIDJ) | فهرس المخطوطات الإباضية وغيرها من المخطوطات العربية في مكتبة جمعية صيانة جزيرة جربة
After a series of short visits beginning in 2014 and ending just this week, I'm delighted to offer a preliminary catalog of Ibadi and other Arabic manuscripts held at the library of the Association pour la sauvegarde de l'île de Djerba (ASIDJ) in Houmet Souk, Djerba. This library has an eclectic and fascinating collection of … Continue reading Catalog of Ibadi & Other Arabic Manuscripts at the Association pour la sauvegarde de l’île de Djerba (ASIDJ) | فهرس المخطوطات الإباضية وغيرها من المخطوطات العربية في مكتبة جمعية صيانة جزيرة جربة
Preserving Endangered Archives in Jerba, Tunisia: The al-Bāsī Family Library | الحفاظ على الأرشيفات المهدّدة في جربة: مكتبة الباسي العائلية
The Journal of Manuscript Studies (3:1, Spring 2018) has just published a short research annotation by my colleague Dr. Ali Boujdidi and myself, describing our project on the El Bessi (al-Bāsī) family library in Jerba, Tunisia. The article is available here on my Academia.edu page. This project, carried out from July 2017-March 2018, included the … Continue reading Preserving Endangered Archives in Jerba, Tunisia: The al-Bāsī Family Library | الحفاظ على الأرشيفات المهدّدة في جربة: مكتبة الباسي العائلية
Upcoming Public Exhibition for al-Bāsī Library Project in Djerba, Tunisa: معرض مكتبة الباسيين في جربة
It is my pleasure to announce the upcoming public exhibition of "Conserving Endangered Archives in Jerba: the al-Bāsī Family Library Project" in Djerba, Tunisia, taking place this coming weekend on Saturday, 3rd of March at 17:30 in Houmet Souk. Over the past 6 months, our team in Djerba has been cataloging and photographing the manuscript … Continue reading Upcoming Public Exhibition for al-Bāsī Library Project in Djerba, Tunisa: معرض مكتبة الباسيين في جربة
New article in the Journal of Islamic Manuscripts | مقال جديد في مجلّة المخطوطات الإسلامية
I am hoping to have another manuscript catalog published by December but in the meantime, I wanted to announce the publication of my inventory of the manuscript library of Shaykh Sālim b. Yaʿqūb (d.1991) in Jerba, Tunisia. This rich collection is well known among specialists and my hope is that our efforts to preserve the … Continue reading New article in the Journal of Islamic Manuscripts | مقال جديد في مجلّة المخطوطات الإسلامية
An Ibadi Bookstore in Tunis | مكتبة إباضية في تونس
While visiting Tunis this month I stopped by to see my friend Mohamed Bennani, owner of what is for me one of the most eclectic and fascinating book and ephemera collections in Tunisia (the "Beit el Bennani" library). I told him about a growing interest of mine in Ibadi library history and we began talking … Continue reading An Ibadi Bookstore in Tunis | مكتبة إباضية في تونس
An Ibadi Manuscript at Columbia University (Part 3/3)| مخطوط إباضي في جامعة كولومبيا (٣/٣)
The Private Manuscript Library of Adolphe Motylinski The previous two posts discussed the provenance of a manuscript copy of the Kitāb ṭabaqāt al-mashāyikh at Columbia University's RBML in New York. The manuscript belonged to the collection of French orientalist and military interpreter Adolphe de C. Motylinski (1854-1907), who collected manuscripts while working in … Continue reading An Ibadi Manuscript at Columbia University (Part 3/3)| مخطوط إباضي في جامعة كولومبيا (٣/٣)
An Ibāḍī Manuscript at Columbia University (Part 2!) | مخطوط إباضي في جامعة كولومبيا (المتابعة)
This is the entry from the Columbia University Library acquisition catalog for the manuscripts acquired for the library from [Paul] Geuthner, which arrived at the library on 8/31/[19]08 and were purchased for 70.00USD Last month, I wrote a short entry on an Ibadi manuscript at the Columbia University Special Collections and Rare Books Library, which … Continue reading An Ibāḍī Manuscript at Columbia University (Part 2!) | مخطوط إباضي في جامعة كولومبيا (المتابعة)
An Ibadi Manuscript at Columbia University | مخطوط إباضي في جامعة كولومبيا
In February of this year, I received an e-mail from my friend Evyn Kropf (the amazing Curator of the Islamic Manuscripts Collection and Near Eastern Studies Librarian at the University of Michigan) about an Ibadi manuscript in an unexpected place: the Rare Books and Manuscripts Library (RBML) at Columbia University. X893.7 Ab92, Rare Book … Continue reading An Ibadi Manuscript at Columbia University | مخطوط إباضي في جامعة كولومبيا
Ibadi Studies | دراسات إباضية 