Spotlight On: Paratextual misadventures in ancient Arabic Manuscripts

Open faced rare Arabic manuscript with marginalia and aged paper
Kitāb Mughnī al-labīb [manuscript]

Leigh Scott Room, Level 1, Baillieu Library

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Explore the marginalia and provenance of rare Arabic manuscripts from Archives and Special Collections’ holdings in a session of slow looking presented by University of Melbourne Arabic Studies scholar Dr Tarek Makhlouf.

Tarek will reveal the meaning behind the marks embedded in the margins of these scripts, the physicality of their material presence and the stories they witnessed and continue to tell. This conversation spotlights five manuscripts dating from between the 14th and the 19th centuries, from the university’s Rare Books collection, including:

  • Mughnī al-labīb - Ibn Hishām [An advanced grammar book]
  • A Quran
  • Tāj al-lughah wa-ṣiḥāḥ al-̀Arabīyah / al-Jawharī Dallāl [An Arabic dictionary]
  • Khāṣṣat al-akh - ʻAwn Dāmiyānūs [a Christian prayer book from Damascus]

Presented in partnership with the PGAV’s Analog Art program, Archives and Special Collections' Spotlight Series features archivists, librarians, curators, researchers, academics and artists. Each session will spotlight the wonders our collections hold and create an informal space for engaging in critical conversations, reflective discussions, slow looking, creative workshops, talks and much more.