Arabic Manuscripts

Adam Gacek, Faculty Lecturer in Arabic manuscript studies at the Institute of Islamic Studies, McGill University (Montreal), is the author of many catalogues, articles and book chapters on Arabic and Persian manuscripts and printed rare books, as well as the recently published The Arabic Manuscript Tradition: a Glossary of Technical Terms & Bibliography (2001) and its Supplement (2008).

All those interested in Arabic works in manuscript form, the world of the scribe and scholar and their writing materials, the make-up of codices and writing styles, transmission of texts, and the arts of the book.

More than merely an introductory handbook, this is a serious work that makes for entertainingly informative reading, with or without a manuscript at hand. Extensively cross-indexed and referenced (...). Recommended. Choice, February 2010

“…an indispensable research, library, and archival companion for students and researchers that are interested in bibliomancy, calligraphy, specifically Arabic, Qur’anic manuscripts, penmanship, bookbinding, papermaking, decoration, and the tools associated with all these crafts. Praise for this monumental effort is essentially superfluous and no library or centre which is concerned with the Islamic manuscript and book tradition should be without the set. Academics and researchers would also find the books as indispensable companions.”
Amidu Olalekan Sanni, JOAS, 2010

“Arabic Manuscripts. A Vademecum for Readers met à portée de tous le résultat d’années de pratique en d’enseignement, et représente un apport considérable dans le domaine.“
Cécile Bonmariage in Le Muséon 124 (2011), 493-496.