I apologize for the delay in posting. A family emergency brought me back to the U.S. for February and I am still catching up.أعتذر للتأخّر في وضع مداخلة جديدة. كان يجب عليّ الرجوع إلى أمريكا لشهر فبراير لمشكلة عائلية. سأضيف الترجمة العربية للمداخلة هذه فيما بعد إن شاء الله This is a quick post to … Continue reading Barouni Manuscript Library, a Livre d’Or | المكتبة البارونية: كتاب التسجيل

Dr. Nājī b. Yaʿqūb in front of the Sheikh Salim LibraryYesterday, I had the pleasure of attending the second annual cultural seminar in remembrance of Ibadi scholar Sheikh Salim b. Yaʿqūb (d.1991) in Houmt Souk, Djerba. His grandson, Dr. Naji b. Yaqub, founded a cultural association in his name (l'Association Culturelle Cheikh Salim) and it … Continue reading Cheikh Salim Seminar in Djerba & the Salim b. Yaʿqūb Library | ملتقى الشيخ سالم الثقافي في جربة ومكتبة سالم بن يعقوب

I apologize for the delay in posting. It actually had nothing to do with the holiday season but was rather due to a trip to Algiers this month during which I had limited access to the internet. That trip yielded a handful of interesting things and I hope to gather my notes together and write … Continue reading Ibadi MSS at the Univ. of Naples "L’Orientale" | المخطوطات الإباضية في جامعة نابولي الشرقية

Earlier this month I took a second trip to Djerba to look for additional information on private family libraries on the island. While the Barouni library (see previous post) is the best known and likely the largest on the island, there are still several other family libraries there. I visited the "Association pour la sauvegarde … Continue reading Association pour la sauvegarde de l’île de Djerba (Part 1): Manuscripts | جمعية صيانة جزيرة جربة (الجزء الأول): المخطوطات

Part of my dissertation project is compiling a database of extant copies of Ibāḍī siyar from North Africa. One element of the database is cataloging the paper upon which these copies were written. Since these copies are often undated, an examination of the watermarks usually proves helpful when attempting to assign an approximate date of … Continue reading Some Observations on Watermarks from the Barouniyya Library | ملاحظات حول العلامات المائية من المكتبة البارونية

This week, I returned to Djerba in order to look at a handful of manuscripts housed in the Bārūnī family library. Much more on these manuscripts and the visit to Djerba to come...While examining an 18th century(?) copy of al-Barrādī's Kitāb al-jawāhir, I encountered an unexpected resident: a bookworm. Now, I have certainly read about … Continue reading Bookworms, literally | دود الكتب…فعلا