Workforms / Datasheets Resources
For a guide to structuring your descriptive notes (particularly helpful as you prepare for a visit to a manuscript repository) see:
"Appendix V. Describing the Manuscript" in Adam Gacek's Arabic Manuscripts: A Vademecum for Readers (Leiden: Brill, 2009): 333-338.
"The present appendix constitutes a manuscript data-sheet, a check-list of the major components of a manuscript's description. The data-sheet is only a guideline and can be adapted according to a particular angle of investigation and/or need. In a nut-shell, it reflects the various aspects of Arabic manuscript studies discussed in the present vademecum (AMVR)."
The COMSt Handbook is also a helpful resource.
For sample copies of such workforms feel free to contact me.
For a project larger in scope (e.g. entire collection, multiple collections, etc.), see the resources of The International Treasury of Islamic Manuscripts, a TIMA sponsored initiative offering online manuscript catalogue hosting free of charge.
Physical Examination Resources
Physical examination is incredibly important for adequately assessing a manuscript's history and for properly characterizing its material qualities.
Essential elements:
- Binding / structure
- Writing material (support)
- Dimensions
- Layout
- Collation
- Overall condition
Essential equipment:
- measuring tape or ruler
- light source
- clean hands
- weights and supports (typically provided by the repository)
- pencil / paper and or electronic device for recording notes, etc.
Essential techniques:
- Collation
- Measurement
- Viewing in transmitted light
- Viewing in raking light
- Touch (where possible)
Contact me directly for a sample physical description workform in electronic format.
See the manuals and readings listed elsewhere on this guide for a more in depth introduction to the various elements.
Hands-on experience is ideal for guidance and training in physical examination. Watch for workshop opportunities and feel free to contact me to set up a hands-on session to step through techniques together.
Terminology Resources
Binabīn, Aḥmad Shawqī and Muṣṭafá Ṭūbī. معجم مصطلحات المخطوط العربي : قاموس كوديكولوجي = Muʻjam muṣṭalaḥāt al-makhṭūṭ al-ʻArabī: Qāmūs kūdīkūlūjī. al-Ribāṭ: al-Khizānah al-Ḥasanīyah, 2004.
CCAHA’s "An Illustrated Guide to Book Terminology. Part One: Book Structure" Available online
Codicologia / كوديكولجيا , a glossary of codicological terminology in French and Arabic. "Codicologia est une application informatique qui fournit un vocabulaire multilingue pour la description des manuscrits. Elle entend proposer un instrument de travail à tous les catalogueurs de manuscrits, les éditeurs de textes et plus généralement à tous ceux qui s'intéressent aux manuscrits anciens." Available online
COMSt Handbook = Comparative Oriental Manuscript Studies: An Introduction, Eds. Alessandro Bausi et al. Hamburg: Tredition, 2015. Available online
Déroche, François, et al. Manuel de codicologie des manuscrits en écriture arabe. [Paris] : Bibliothèque nationale de France, c2000.
-------. al-Madkhal ilá ʻilm al-kitāb al-makhṭūṭ bi-al-ḥarf al-ʻArabī. Landan : Muʼassasat al-Furqān lil-Turāth al-Islāmī, 2005.
-------. Islamic Codicology: An Introduction to the Study of Manuscripts in Arabic Script. London: Al-Furqān Islamic Heritage Foundation, 2006.
------- and Valentina Sagaria Rossi. I manoscritti in caratteri arabi. Roma : Viella, 2012.
Gacek, Adam. The Arabic Manuscript Tradition: A Glossary of Technical Terms and Bibliography. Leiden: Brill, 2001.
-------. The Arabic Manuscript Tradition: A Glossary of Technical Terms and Bibliography – Supplement. Leiden: Brill, 2008.
-------. Arabic Manuscripts: A Vademecum for Readers. Leiden: Brill, 2009.
-------. Arapça Elyazmaları İçin Rehber. trc. Ali Benli & M. Cüneyt Kaya. İstanbul: Klasik Yayinevi, 2017.
Ghelichkhani, Hamid Reza (Ḥamīd Riz̤ā Qilīchʹkhānī). Zarʹafshān : farhang-i iṣṭilāḥāt va tarkībāt-i khūshnivīsī, kitābʹārāyī va nuskhahʹpardāzī dar shiʻr-i Fārsī = Zar afshān: a dictionary of terms relating to calligraphy, ornament, and the making of manuscripts as found in classical Persian poetry. Tihrān: Farhang-i Muʻāṣir, 2013.
--------. A Handbook of Persian Calligraphy and Related Arts, edited by Shervin Farridnejad and translated by Rebecca Stengel. Leiden: Brill, [2021].
al-Ḥalwajī, ʻAbd al-Sattār. Naḥwa ʻilm makhṭūṭāt ʻArabī. al-Qahirah: Dar al-Qahirah, 2004.
Hepworth, Paul and Karin Scheper. "Terminology For the Conservation and Description of Islamic Manuscripts." Available online
Language of Bindings Thesaurus (LoB) (from Ligatus Research Centre) Available online
Māyil Hiravī, Rez̤a. Lughāt va iṣṭilāhāt-i fann-i kitābsāzī: hamrāh bā iṣṭilāhāt-i jildʹsāzi, taẕhi̲b, naqqāshī. [Tehran] : Bunyād-i Farhang-i Īrān, 1353 [1974].
Miller, Julia. Books Will Speak Plain: A Handbook for Identifying and Describing Historical Bindings. Ann Arbor, MI: The Legacy Press, 2010.
Roberts, Matt and Don Etherington. Bookbinding and the Conservation of Books: A Dictionary of Descriptive Terminology. Washington : Library of Congress : 1982 (available online in HathiTrust and in full-text searchable form via CoOL )
Ṣafarī Āqʹqalʻah, ʻAlī. Nuskhahʹshinākht: pizhūhishnāmah-ʼi nuskhahʹshināsī-i nusakh-i khaṭṭī-i Fārsī [= Handbook of Persian codicology: an introduction to the study of Persian manuscripts]. Tihrān: Markaz-i Pizhūhishī-i Mīrās̲-i Maktūb, 2011.
Sayyid, Ayman Fuʾād. al-Kitāb al-ʻArabī al-makhṭūṭ wa-ʻilm al-makhṭūṭāt. al-Qāhirah : al-Dār al-Miṣrīyah al-Lubnānīyah, 1997.
Özen, Mine Esiner. Yazma kitap sanatları sözlüğü. İstanbul: İstanbul Üniversitesi, Fen Fakültesi, 1985.
-------. Türk cilt sanatı. [Ankara]: Türkiye İş Bankası Kültür Yayınları, 1998.
Seal Impressions Resources
Afshar, Iraj. "ʻArz (عرض) dans la tradition bibliothéconomique irano-indienne." In Scribes et manuscrits du Moyen-Orient, Eds. François Déroche and Francis Richard (Paris: Bibliothèque Nationale de France, 1997): 331-343
Esmaili, Mozhgan. Chancellery System and Its Sigillography during the Contemporaneous Reigns of the Safavids in Iran & the Great Mughals in India. New Delhi: Indian Bibliographies Bureau, 2008.
Gacek, Adam. "Ownership statements and seals in Arabic manuscripts." Manuscripts of the Middle East 2 (1987): 88-95
Gallop, Annabel Teh. Malay Seals from the Islamic World of Southeast Asia. Singapore: NUS Press, 2019.
------- and Venetia Porter. Lasting Impressions: Seals from the Islamic World. Kuala Lumpur: Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia, 2012.
-------. "Exceptions to the Rule: Malay Seals in Manuscript Books." In Archipel 74 (2007): 139-164
-------. "Ottoman Influences in the Seal of Sultan Alauddin Riayat Syah of Aceh (r. 1589-1604)." Indonesia and the Malay World 32, 93 (2004):176-190
Hammer-Purgstall, Joseph. Abhandlung über die Siegel der Araber, Perser und Türken. Wien: Kaiserlich-Königlichen hof- und Staatsdruckerei, 1850 (available online via HathiTrust)
Jiddī, Muḥammad Javād (جدی، محمد جواد)
جدی، محمد جواد. مهرها و نقش مهرها در سازمان اسناد و کتابخانه ملی ايران. تهران: انتشارات سازمان اسناد و کتابخانه ملی جمهوری اسلامی ایران، 1396 = 2017
جدی، محمد جواد. دانشنامه مهر و حکاکی در ايران. تهران: کتابخانه موزه و مرکز اسناد مجلس شورای اسلامی، 1392 = 2013
جدی، محمد جواد. مهرهای سلطنی در مجموعه موزه کاخ گلستان. تهران: کتابخانه موزه و مرکز اسناد مجلس شورای اسلامی، 1390 = 2011
Kalus, Ludvik. Catalogue of Islamic Seals and Talismans. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1986. (available via Ashmolean Publications Online)
Kut, Günay and Nimet Bayraktar. Yazma eserlerde vakıf mühürleri. Ankara : Kültür ve Turizm Bakanlığı, 1984.
--------. Yazma Eserlerde Vakıf Mühürleri (= أختام الأوقاف في المخطوطات) İstanbul: Türkiye Yazma Eserler Kurumu Başkanlığı, 2021 (available online open access)
Liebrenz, Boris. “What's in a Seal? Identification and Interpretation of ʿAbd al-Bāqī Ibn al-ʿArabī’s (d. 971/1564) Seal and Its Function," Journal of Islamic Manuscripts 13, 1 (2022): 55-80.
Mirzaabolghasemi, Mohammad Sadegh (میرزاابوالقاسمی، محمدصادق)
میرزاابوالقاسمی، محمدصادق. آداب مهرنویسی در دورۀ اسلامی از ایلخانان تا پایان قاجاریه. تهران: سازمان اسناد و کتابخانه ملی جمهوری اسلامی ایران، 1394 = 2015
"Stamps." In François Déroche, et al. Islamic Codicology: An Introduction to the Study of Manuscripts in the Arabic Script (London: Al-Furqān Islamic Heritage Foundation, 2006): 330-344
Polosin, Val. V. and Efim A. Rezvan, “The Asiatic Museum Project: 1. Data-base on Muslim Seals.” Manuscripta Orientalia 1,1 (July 1995): 53-55 (available online)
Porter, Venetia. Arabic and Persian Seals and Amulets in the British Museum. London : British Museum, 2011.
Seyller, John. "The Inspection and Valuation of Manuscripts in the Imperial Mughal Library." Artibus Asiae 57, iii-iv (1997): 243-349
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Mühür Veritabanı / Seal DatabaseFrom Türkiye Yazma Eserler Kurumu Başkanlığı Kataloglama Birimi, a rich resource with hundreds of examples, discussion of manufacture and use, and reading practice exercises
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Chester Beatty Library Islamic Seals Database"Seals are usually inscribed with the name of an individual, often in conjunction with a pious phrase, and are used in manuscripts to denote ownership. Knowing who the individual named is and when and where that person lived can help one to trace the history of a manuscript, which may in turn shed light on notes and commentaries added or other alterations made to the manuscript since it was first produced. However, the individual or institution named is often unknown to the researcher or the text may not be easily deciphered: the ink may be smudged or otherwise unclear or the script itself might be difficult to read. Therefore, as a visitor to the site, you are invited to participate in deciphering the seals, identifying the individuals or institutions named, and adding information such as other sources of the same seal impression or other seals that name the same individual or institution.... Initially the database will contain mainly images of seal impressions found in the more than 2600 manuscripts that make up the Chester Beatty Library’s Arabic Collection. The number of images will increase steadily until the seals in all of these manuscripts are included as well as all of those found in the Library’s other Islamic manuscripts (those in its Qur’an, Persian, Turkish and Mughal-era Indian Collections). We are happy to include seals from other collections if proper permission to do so and photographs are provided."
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Chester Beatty Islamic Seals Database (archived)Archived version of the database still accessible via the Wayback Machine
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Seal impressions (Islamic Manuscripts Collection, University of Michigan)Images of seal impressions appearing in the manuscripts of the Islamic Manuscripts Collection, Special Collections Research Center, University of Michigan. Intended to be shared with Chester Beatty Library Seals project.
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Ex (-) Libris ex Oriente (ELEO)"La base de données Ex(-)Libris ex Oriente (ELEO) est destinée à permettre l'étude des éléments paratextuels liés à la transmission du livre en Islam.... Sera mise en ligne dès que la base contiendra un nombre significatif de marques (environ 10.000)"
Resources for Manuscript Notes
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Audition Certificates Platform | منصة طباق السماع (CSMC University of Hamburg)Search for names, places and any term in audition certificates.
ACP uses Arabic script only, no Latin transliteration. -
Qalamos : manuscript notes search"In the manuscript notes module, reader and owner entries, annotations concerning the manuscript’s transmission, prices or private notes are collected in full text. All records of persons or events are linked to the datasets of the manuscripts." Collected by Boris Liebrenz
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Manuscript Notes databases (Boris Liebrenz)Biographical database of pre-modern Middle Eastern book culture ; Manuscript notes in the Forschungsbibliothek Schloss Friendenstein, Gotha ; Manuscript notes in the Berlin State Library ; Manuscript notes in the Refaiya Library
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Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī database | صحيح البخاريIncludes data for thousands of manuscripts and manuscript notes (audition, reading, ownership, colophons etc)
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Bibliotheca Arabica"Digital publications will include a bio-bibliographical reference work of Arabic authors and works, an online database of manuscript notes, and a research library that will allow for the exploration and visualisation of larger interrelations in the history of Arabic manuscript literatures."
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KHIZANA Bibliotheca Arabica's Reference Work on the Arabic Manuscript Tradition"Khizana aims to be a comprehensive bio-bibliographical reference work on agents and works related to Arabic manuscripts, focusing on the period between the 12th and the 19th centuries CE. As a reference work on Arabic literature, it integrates sources relevant to Bibliotheca Arabica. The most important source types are: data from manuscript catalogues (print & online) ; data from biographical and bibliographical works ; and manuscript notes on owners, readers, etc. Using graph based technologies, special emphasis is laid on providing evidence (i.e., provenance) for every piece of information. Work on the Khizana will be expanded continuously in the next years."
Search (by name etc) in other institutional cataloguing platforms (U-M Library Advanced Catalog Search >> Special Collections >> Islamic Manuscripts), Princeton University Library Catalog, etc) as well
Online lessons / exercises
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mouse&manuscript (Dorrit van Dalen, Peter Webb, et al)Lessons in codicology and palaeography based on manuscripts from the Middle East, Islamic Africa and beyond preserved in the collections at Leiden University
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Islamic Manuscript Basics (Kelly Tuttle)"This site holds basic information and resources relating to the study of Islamic manuscripts. If you are new to thinking about the material aspects of Islamic manuscripts or are simply curious and want to know more, then this site is for you!... Kelly Tuttle, the cataloger for the Manuscripts of the Muslim World (MMW) project, created this site to accompany the project. It is meant to introduce novices to the basics of looking at Islamic manuscripts."
Authority work
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HMML Authority File"HMML Authority File (HAF) is an open access database that shares lists of authorities used in HMML’s Reading Room and Museum. Metadata in HAF is submitted to the Library of Congress’s Name Authority Cooperative Program (NACO) as part of HMML’s partnership in the Program for Cooperative Cataloging. The HMML Authority File is part of the Resources for Description of Manuscripts from Understudied Christian and Islamic Traditions project funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities that will help build the scholarly infrastructure to create access to endangered manuscripts digitized by the Hill Museum & Manuscript Library. HAF is a living authority file improved over time. Some authorities may begin as sparse records but grow in detail as additional information is uncovered."