I am delighted to be participating in the "Lawrence J. Schoenberg Symposium on Manuscript Studies in the Digital Age" at the University of Pennsylvania (USA) this week. My paper is on the circulation and movement of manuscripts from the Jebel Nafusa area of Libya in the early 20th century. Registration can be done here and … Continue reading Presentation on Jebel Nafusa in Schoenberg Symposium on Manuscript Studies | مداخلة حول جبل نفوسة والخطوطات في ندوة مركز شوينبورج

I am very happy to announce that the newest issue of Nouvelles Chroniques du manuscrit au Yémen features a summary of the main arguments and contents of my most recent book, The Ottoman Ibadis of Cairo, in both Arabic and English. The entire issue is available online and for free here: http://www.cdmy.org/cmy/ncmy19_38.pdf and the review … Continue reading Summary of Ottoman Ibadis of Cairo in NCMY | ملخص للكتاب “الإباضية العثمانيون بالقاهرة” متوفر في مجلة حوليات مخطوطات اليمن الجديدة

This afternoon (14h00 GMT) I will join a group of colleagues from @bl_eap to talk about our Endangered Archives Programme projects to digitize manuscripts and early Arabic print books in #Djerba #Tunisia and to introduce the new regional hub of EAP at the @AUB_Lebanon. Join us by registering at the link below https://www.aub.edu.lb/Libraries/News/Pages/Online-talk.aspx اليوم بعد … Continue reading Presenting our EAP Projects in Djerba: Join us!

I have a new post as library director this semester, which has kept me from writing but before the New Year I wanted to share the publication of a new article of mine entitled "Omani Books and Their Maghribi Readers: Textual Exchanges in Ottoman Cairo" , which appeared this week in a special issue of … Continue reading New Article on Omani-Ibadi Books in Ottoman Cairo | ظهور مقال جديد حول المخطوطات العمانية-الإباضية في القاهرة العثمانية

A screenshot of my most recent article, "Manuscripts are like vampires" (History Compass, 2020), available online here: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/hic3.12626 I have been super busy with a couple of grant applications for the past two months and forgot to post that an article I wrote about the culture of manuscript rumors on the island of Jerba, Tunisia … Continue reading “Manuscripts are like vampires” (article in History Compass, 2020)

As part of an ongoing project on the history of the Ibadi community in Cairo, I have been looking into the later life of the famous Ibadi activist, revolutionary, and diplomat Sulaymān al-Bārūnī. There has been some great stuff written on him in the past but most stories end with his death in Bombay in … Continue reading Ibadi connections: Tripoli, Cairo, Baghdad, & Muscat during World War II | الروابط الإباضية: طرابلس والقاهرة وبغداد ومسقط في الحرب العالمية الثانية

It's been a busy semester of classes and I haven't had much time to write. When I saw one particular document from the British Archives today, however, I decided to make time. The document in question comes from a folder entitled "15/3 Vol I XV - B/1 VISITORS SUSPECTS & UNDESIRABLES SULEMAN AL BARUNI AL … Continue reading Sulaymān Bāsha al-Bārūnī: A CV in English | سليمان باشا الباروني: سيرة ذاتية بالإنجليزية