RE: Divine Appraisal of Islam collection
I hope someone from the MELA will be able to help you.
FYI, I created a series of bulletin boards on divine protection and
protectors for library collections during the early 1990s. I have placed the
results on my profile page on my librarything.com webpage. The section on
Arabic and Moslem books is given below, and demonstrates the uses and
scholarship of the MELA Notes.
Lee
R. Lee Hadden
Geospatial Information Library (GIL)
Topographic Engineering Center
ATTN: CEERD-TO-I (Hadden)
7701 Telegraph Road
Alexandria, VA 22315-3864
(703) 428-9206
Robert.L.Hadden@...
See some of my writings, both online and on paper, at my author page at:
http://www.librarything.com/author/haddenrobertlee
-----Original Message-----
From: bounce-1542511-8073248@...
[mailto:bounce-1542511-8073248@...] On Behalf Of Will Langford
Sent: Tuesday, June 19, 2007 11:05 AM
To: melanet-l@...
Subject: Fw: Appraisal of Islam collection
----- Original Message -----
From: Will Langford <mailto:wlangfor@...>
To: melanet-l@...
Sent: Friday, June 15, 2007 4:08 PM
Subject: Appraisal of Islam collection
The University of Georgia Libraries has acquired a significant Islam
collection, and needs to hire someone to appraise it. If you are qualified to
appraise such a collection, or know of someone who may, please contact me.
Thank you,
Will Langford
Gifts Coordinator
University of Georgia Libraries
Athens, GA 30602
wlangfor@...
706-542-0595
The centerpiece of the collection is around 15 hand written and
professionally illuminated (goldleaf and color) and bound Arabic and Persian
manuscripts (and a couple of Ottoman manuscripts), many of them written by
highly skilled calligraphers. There are also a substantial number of 19th
century Arabic lithographed books.
The collection consists predominately of books in the field of Islamic
History, with strengths in African (both north Africa and Sub-Saharan
Africa), Yemeni, and Iranian Islamic history. There are also numerous works
concerned with the political and religious dimension of Islam, especially
Islamic law and spirituality (Sufism), and Islamic literature. There are
also a substantial number of works on Islamic divination Most of the books
are in English, although roughly 10% of the books are in Persian and Arabic
(with a few in Ottoman and modern Turkish) and a substantial but smaller
percentage of books are in French and German.
******
ARABIC AND MOSLEM APPEALS
Appeals to heaven for the prevention of the deterioration of Arabic
manuscripts traditionally takes two forms. The first is a holy inscription in
the book that will give metaphysical protection by divine beings such as jinn
or angels, who would then prevent the desecration of holy writ.
A second traditional form was an appeal to "Kabi:Kaj," the "King of
the Cockroaches." By appealing to the king to protect a manuscript,
cockroaches (or lesser insects) would refrain from intruding on documents
which could be eaten by the king only. Since many manuscripts were made with
fish-glue, starch-paste, leather and other tasty substances, insect appetites
were a constant and never ending problem to Arabic books and scrolls.
(Pollock, James W. "Kabi:Kaj to Book Pouches: Library Preservation Magic and
Technique in Syria of the 1880's and the 1980's West." Middle Eastern Library
Association Notes (MELA Notes), Number 44, Spring, 1988, pages 8-10.)
A similar technique from Syria was to name the first and last page of
a document or manuscript "The Page of the King of the Cockroaches", in the
hope that the Cockroach King will control all other insects. Translated
appeals include "O Kabi:Kaj, save the paper!", "O Kabi:Kaj, save this book
from the worms!" and "O Kabi:Kaj, do not eat this paper!" (Adam Gacek. "The
Use of Kabikaj in Arabic Manuscripts." Manuscripts of the Middle East. Volume
I, 1986. Pages 49-53. See also James Pollock's paper mentioned above.)
"In Maghribi manuscripts, the word appears in its evidently corrupt
form, Kaykataj, and is clearly used as a talisman... and mentions, after a
certain Muhammad al-Samiri, that when one writes "Kaytataj" on the first and
last folio of the book, one can be sure that worms will not attack it."
(Ibid. Page 49.)
This appeal to Kabi:Kaj is sometimes used with the term "Hafiz,"
which is a religious term that means "One Who has Memorized the Holy Koran."
In this case, the term "Hafiz" is used in the older sense of "Protector (of
the document)" or "ya kabikaj ya hafiz." (Ibid. Page 49.)
Colophons and Curses
The term "colophon" refers to a slip of paper that describes the
physical parameters of a work. In ancient scrolls, it often included some or
all of the following: the name of the author, transcriber, the title,
subject, publisher, place, date and sometimes a repetition of the first line
of text. This slip protruded from the body of the scroll, and was used as an
index or finding aid.
The colophon verified that the item was a true copy, and sometimes
the number of lines in the scroll were added up and the sum placed on the
colophon so a purchaser would know that the copy was a complete copy of the
original text, and, by the way, helped establish the fee for the copy.
The term "colophon" comes from the Greek and means "summit" or
"finishing stroke," although the origin of the term has been attributed to
Erasmus during the Renaissance.
In Mesopotamia, the colophon would often have a blessing on the owner
of the scroll, or a curse if someone would try to alter it, burn it, dissolve
it in water, lose it, lend it, or allow anyone else to steal it. This custom
spread to Hebraic and Arabic works as well, and then into Europe.
Even today, modern books have warnings against copyright
infringement, although they pale in comparison to some of the ancient curses
and threats of divine retribution.
See more in this odd piece of library lore, including Ancient Egypt,
Christian and Aztec library protectors at:
http://www.librarything.com/profile/hadden
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