Article Series
A summary of the third of Shaykh Salih al-Azhari's courses in manuscript studies, on the endowment (waqf), ownership and reading notes recorded in Arabic manuscripts. The course introduces these texts that accompany the main text, their elements, types, positions and development, then turns to their use: dating a copy from the dates and names they mention, and recovering the title and author when the first leaf is lost.
Series parts
Shaykh Salih al-Azhari introduces the paratexts that accompany the authored text of a manuscript, focusing on ownership notes: their forms, placement, historical development, and the ways they were tampered with.
An in-depth lesson on endowment notes in Arabic manuscripts, setting out their core elements, how to analyze damaged or altered notes, and their value for dating and editing a copy.
Shaykh Salih al-Azhari shows how editors can put ownership, reading, and endowment notes to practical use, from dating copies and recovering lost titles to tracing a manuscript's travels and reconstructing scholars' lost libraries.
The final session of the third course analyzes endowment and ownership notes in practice, covering seals, obscured dates, abjad numerals, copyists' errors, and how to handle objectionable wording in recorded notes.