![]() ![]() ![]() General history of Africa III: Africa from the seventh to the eleventh century. London : Al-Furqan.ĮL FASI, M & HRBEK, I. ![]() The codicology of Islamic manuscripts: proceedings of the second conference of Al-Furqan Islamic Heritage Foundation, 4-5 December 1993. Sahara: the extraordinary history of the world’s larges desert. Available at: (accessed 9 December 2004).ĭE VILLIERS, M. Bookbinding and the conservation of Books: a dictionary of descriptive terminology. The opponents of the writing of Tradition in early Islam. (2nd ed.) From memory to written record: England 1066 – 1307. Amsterdam : Menno Hertzberger.ĬLANCHY, MT. in the xvii and xviii centuries and their interconnection. Watermarks in paper: in Holland, England, France, etc. Cambridge : Cambridge University.ĬHURCHILL, WA. Princeton, NJ : Markus Wiener PublishersīOWMAN, AK. Chicago : Oriental Institute, University of Chicago.īOVILL, EW. Islamic bindings and bookmaking: exhibition catalogue. New Haven London : Yale University.īOSCH, G … et al. Paper before print: the history and impact of paper in the Islamic world. Princeton, NJ : Princeton University.īLOOM, JM. The transmission of knowledge in medieval Cairo: a social history of Islamic education. International Preservation News: a newsletter of the IFLA core activity on preservation and conservation. Available (Accessed 11 February 2005).īAKER, AB & SILVERMAN, R. Watermarks: University of Victoria Lydgate MS Fall of princes. Albany, NY : State University of New York Library of Congress.īADKE, D. The book in the Islamic world: the written word and communication in the Middle East. Technical services in libraries, archives, museum.Ĭheck full metadata for this record ReferencesĪTIYEH, GN. Timbuktu, Manuscripts, conservation, Islamic civilization, Mali, Africa Within Timbuktu there existed an active copying and scribal industry (Hunwick 2003:3) that ensured a continual production of manuscripts for the consumption of scholars, students and literate citizens. In addition scholars returning from pilgrimage further augmented Timbuktu’s manuscript collections over the centuries and study in other centres of Islamic learning, often copied by their own hands. The 16th century traveller Leo Africanus, noted that books were the most valued among the various articles of trade and wrote that: “… hither are brought divers manuscripts or written books out of Barbary, which are sold for more money than any other merchandise.” (De Villiers & Hirtle 2003:212 Saad 1983:88). His family, the Aqit, were the leading scholarly family during the 16th century in Timbuktu. Timbuktu’s most celebrated scholar, Ahmed Baba (1564-1627 CE) claimed that his personal library contained some 1 600 volumes (Hunwick 2003:3), and that his was the smallest library within his family. Part of the legend of Timbuktu’s manuscripts is due to the reputed vast number of manuscripts to be found in Timbuktu literature on the subject ascribe anything between one to five million manuscripts in Timbuktu and its immediate environs. The fortuitous placement of Timbuktu at the crossing of the Niger River and a major caravan route that continues to Marrakech (Morocco) in the north and swings towards the modern-day state of Sudan across the Sahara desert as well as one of the major routes for pilgrimage to Mecca is surely a large part of the reason for its success as a centre of commerce – which brought with it both wealth and culture (Bovill 1958:105 De Villiers & Hirtle 2003:212 Saad 1983:6). It is though that Timbuktu was founded some time around 1100 CE (Bovill 1958:88 Hunwick 2003:1 Saad 1983:4). The city of Timbuktu is located in modern-day West African country of Mali close to the river Niger at its northern-most bend, on the fringes of the Sahara desert. I would like to first set the context for this presentation: that is the place of Timbuktu – it is a city of legend and myth, as much as of actual history. ![]()
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