This volume is the result of two workshops conducted in 2018 and 2019 at the Saxon Academy of Sciences and Humanities in Leipzig, Germany.1 Working with the general topic of commentary literature in the “Bibliotheca Arabica” project, it goes without saying that commentarial activity in the margin of manuscripts, or between the lines, was part of my field of research, alongside stand-alone commentaries. Since I specifically deal with hadith literature and manuscripts, the often densely annotated manuscript pages had drawn my attention, testifying to the intense study people had made of these texts, as well as their efforts to secure correct transmission, including variant readings. But I also recognised that – despite a distinct increase of interest in paratexts since the start of the new millennium – studies specifically dedicated to the commentarial, largely anonymous, marginal and interlinear annotations in Arabic manuscripts are extremely scarce, especially if compared to academic works on these sorts of annotations in other manuscript cultures, such as European ones.
Thus, I am thankful to the “Bibliotheca Arabica” project and its principal investigator, Prof. Dr. Verena Klemm, as well as to the managing director, Dr. Daniel Kinitz, to have had the opportunity to integrate the topic of marginal commentaries, or commentary glosses, into the project’s research programme. As series editor, Prof. Klemm has productively accompanied the process of creation of this book with constructive ideas. The team of the “Bibliotheca Arabica” project, including our former colleague Dr. Nadine Löhr as well as the hosting institution of the Saxon Academy of Sciences and Humanities, have always been supportive. My special gratitude goes to Dr. Boris Liebrenz, who has played a great part in the development of this book.
But this volume would obviously not exist if the contributors had not invested all the efforts that they have to analyse certain aspects of marginal commentaries in manuscripts of their own specialisations, ranging from West Africa to India and from religion to sciences. During the workshops, and through our joint work, I have learned a great deal, and I would like to express my gratitude to all of them for their commitment.
Along the path to publishing this book, many colleagues had a share in improving its content and form. The external peer reviewers cautiously and critically read the chapters relevant to their own specialisations, giving constructive feedback and so adding decisively to the book. Our student colleagues Anne Weber and Vivienne Schommer helped with the initial copy-editing, and they supported the making of this book in many ways. Dr. Tim Curnow has given the final touches to the book, improving style, format, and content once more, making it ready to submit to Brill. His copy-editing and proofreading was not only extremely thorough, but also showed an enormous insight and sensitivity to the subject matter of the book. I enjoyed the cooperation very much. At Brill Publishers, Maurits van den Boogert accompanied the book in its early stages, a support that was later taken over by Nicolette van der Hoek and Abdurraouf Oueslati. The close collaboration on the book with Nienke Brienen-Moolenaar and Dirk Bakker was extremely helpful and enjoyable. My thanks go to them all, as well as to all those who otherwise contributed to the typesetting and the creation of the index (Aurélien Montel and Vivienne Schommer). My husband, Carl-Fredrik Vogt Andresen, has played an important part in the completion of the book through his critical reading and correction of my texts, as well as his constant support of the project.
However, I would also like to add many others to this list. Over the years, I have profited a great deal from diverse academic networks that discuss commentary in general and paratexts in particular; these include, for example, the Centre for the Study of Manuscript Cultures (University of Hamburg), the Practices of Commentary network (University of Toronto), and the Network for the Study of Glossing (coordinated by Pádraic Moran, University of Galway). Together with the authors of the many extremely useful publications about marginalia in other manuscript cultures, these contacts and academic works have been a basis from which to start and further develop – even if they only might appear in a footnote. Last but not least, I am grateful to my family for all their support and encouragement over the past years. They have also played their part in the making of this book.
In this volume, the transliteration of Arabic and Persian into Latin characters follows the International Journal of Middle Eastern Studies (IJMES). Names that were not of Arabic or Persian origin could be given by the authors in different transcriptions. Words that are well established, such as hadith, Qurʾan, or imam, and known geographic places, such as Iraq, Baghdad, or Mecca, are given in their contemporary forms. The titles “Efendī” and “Çelebī” are given as Efendi and Çelebi. In the case of technical terms, the proper transliteration is usually given in brackets when mentioned for the first time. Dates appear in Hijrī and Common Era format (e.g., 516/1122) until the nineteenth century. Each chapter is followed by a list of manuscripts and a bibliography.
It was left to the authors to decide whether they wanted to list the libraries in the respective national language or in the English version. That is, the Süleymaniye Library in Istanbul can be given by its English name or as Süleymaniye Yazma Eser Kütüphanesi; the State Library of Berlin can be given in its English form or as Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin; the Leiden University Library can be given as such or as Universitaire Bibliotheken Leiden, and so on.
Stefanie Brinkmann
“Marginal Commentaries and Glosses in Manuscripts” (16 August 2018) and “Marginal Commentaries in Arabic Manuscripts” (2–3 December 2019).