Aḥmad ibn ʿAlī al-Maqrīzī (d. 845/1442) is considered one of the great historians of the Islamic civilization. He composed works in several different genres and on a wide variety of topics (chronicles, biographical dictionaries, works and treatises on various subjects such as numismatics, metrology, mineralogy, etc.). His fame is based on his efforts to record the history of Egypt, and in particular on his acclaimed topographical history of the city of Cairo. Most of his works have survived, and, for some of them, autograph manuscripts (drafts and fair copies) or manuscripts bearing his corrections are still preserved in several libraries all around the world. Strangely enough, these essential witnesses of his works’ textual tradition are generally not taken as the starting point and the textual basis of the several editions printed in the last two centuries. Consequently, they contain many mistakes and cannot be regarded as critical editions. Moreover, only a few of the printed/edited titles are available in translation or have been the subject of thorough analyses.
Bibliotheca Maqriziana aims at remedying this. Meticulously edited by numerous specialists in the field, the series offers a definitive critical edition of the Arabic text and annotated translation (on facing pages) of a number of al-Maqrīzī’s important opuscules and major works. Each title will also include a substantive introduction as well as essential critical and explanatory notes and selective bibliographies. A facsimile of the manuscript (if autographed or corrected by al-Maqrīzī) will be added at the end of each volume offering the reader the opportunity to examine the original and to see when and where marginal notes have been added, evidencing various aspects of al-Maqrīzī’s working method.
Books in preparation:
1) al-Ḍawʾ al-sārī li-maʿrifat khabar Tamīm al-Dārī
2) al-Maqāṣid al-saniyya li-maʿrifat al-ajsām al- maʿdiniyya
3) Naḥl ʿibar al-naḥl
4) Shudhūr al-ʿuqūd fī dhikr al-nuqūd
5) Al-Dhahab al-masbūk fī dhikr man ḥajja min al-khulafāʾ wa-l-mulūk
6) Al-Ishāra wa-l-īmāʾ ilā ḥall lughz al-māʾ
7) Al-Ilmām bi-akhbār man bi-arḍ al-Ḥubsh min mulūk al-islām
8) Al-Khabar ʿan al-bashar, chapter dealing with the idols in pre-Islamic Arabia
9) Al-Khabar ʿan al-bashar, chapter on brigands
10) Kitāb fīhi dhikr mā warada fī bunyān al-ka‘ba al-mu‘aẓẓama
Bibliotheca Maqriziana aims at remedying this. Meticulously edited by numerous specialists in the field, the series offers a definitive critical edition of the Arabic text and annotated translation (on facing pages) of a number of al-Maqrīzī’s important opuscules and major works. Each title will also include a substantive introduction as well as essential critical and explanatory notes and selective bibliographies. A facsimile of the manuscript (if autographed or corrected by al-Maqrīzī) will be added at the end of each volume offering the reader the opportunity to examine the original and to see when and where marginal notes have been added, evidencing various aspects of al-Maqrīzī’s working method.
Books in preparation:
1) al-Ḍawʾ al-sārī li-maʿrifat khabar Tamīm al-Dārī
2) al-Maqāṣid al-saniyya li-maʿrifat al-ajsām al- maʿdiniyya
3) Naḥl ʿibar al-naḥl
4) Shudhūr al-ʿuqūd fī dhikr al-nuqūd
5) Al-Dhahab al-masbūk fī dhikr man ḥajja min al-khulafāʾ wa-l-mulūk
6) Al-Ishāra wa-l-īmāʾ ilā ḥall lughz al-māʾ
7) Al-Ilmām bi-akhbār man bi-arḍ al-Ḥubsh min mulūk al-islām
8) Al-Khabar ʿan al-bashar, chapter dealing with the idols in pre-Islamic Arabia
9) Al-Khabar ʿan al-bashar, chapter on brigands
10) Kitāb fīhi dhikr mā warada fī bunyān al-ka‘ba al-mu‘aẓẓama
