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In 1969, circa 1,000 fragments of the Qur'an were found in the space between two ceiling covers in the Holy Shrine of Imam Riḍā in Mashhad, Iran. Some of these were among the oldest Qur'ans produced in Iran. Three volumes in that cache are the only remaining parts of a fourteen-volume Qur'an, copied in Ramaḍān 327/939, endowed to the Holy Shrine by Kishvād b. Amlās. The volume is in vertical format and was copied on paper. Presently, it is the oldest known dated Qur'an manuscript on paper in the world. The similarities of the script and illumination to some undated and unsigned Qur'ans give us some hints about the Kufic script and illuminations in central Iran. The present article discusses the codicological and paleographical features of this copy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

More than 1,000 years prior to the 'print revolution', a massive media transformation took place in the Middle East, namely, the introduction of paper during the eighth century. Accompanied by several further technological changes, the new writing surface—purportedly brought to Central Asia by Chinese prisoners of war—led to an increasing availability of written sources, an 'explosion of books'. In this paper, I examine the details of this early media transformation, survey how literary and historical sources discussed this development and give insight into the developments it entailed in just a few centuries. The main part of the paper deals with sources from the Mamluk period (1250–1517) that witnessed a thorough literarization of all parts of communal and personal life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

MS Tunis, Dār al-kutub al-waṭaniyya, 7116, is the only extant manuscript containing a complete copy of the Isḥāq/Ṯābit version of the Almagest. Paul Kunitzsch has underlined the close similarities between the marginal notes in the Tunis manuscript and those in Gerard of Cremona's Latin translation of the Almagest , so that Kunitzsch has concluded that Gerard of Cremona had a manuscript close to the Tunis manuscript before him during the revision of his translation of the Almagest. A note in MS Tunis, Dār al-kutub al-waṭaniyya, 7116, points out that this manuscript was copied from a model owned by al-Arawšī, a bibliophile living in Valencia famous for the size of his library, a significant part of which was looted by al-Maʾmūn b. Ḏī l-Nūn and sent to Toledo, arguably shortly before Ṣāʿid al-Andalusī wrote his Ṭabaqāt al-umam. Based on MS Tunis, Dār al-kutub al-waṭaniyya, 7116, the present contribution explores the significance of al-Arawšī's looted library as an important link between Umayyad Cordoba and Toledo. It also calls attention to the highly unusual paper of MS Tunis, Dār al-kutub al-waṭaniyya, 7116, made of woven fibers, maybe flax. Résumé: Le manuscrit de Tunis, Dār al-kutub al-waṭaniyya, 7116, est le seul manuscrit existant contenant une copie complète de la version d'Isḥāq/Ṯābit de l' Almageste. Paul Kunitzsch souligna les fortes similitudes entre les notes marginales du manuscrit de Tunis et celles de la traduction latine de l' Almageste par Gérard de Crémone, de sorte qu'il conclut que Gérard de Crémone avait devant lui un manuscrit proche du manuscrit de Tunis lors de la révision de sa traduction de l' Almageste. Une note dans le manuscrit de Tunis, Dār al-kutub al-waṭaniyya, 7116, signale que ce manuscrit a été copié d'après un modèle appartenant à al-Arawšī, un bibliophile vivant à Valence et célèbre pour la taille de sa bibliothèque, dont une importante partie fut pillée par al-Maʾmūn b. Ḏī l-Nūn et envoyée à Tolède, sans doute peu avant que Ṣāʿid al-Andalusī ne rédige ses Ṭabaqāt al-umam. S'appuyant sur le manuscrit de Tunis, Dār al-kutub al-waṭaniyya, 7116, la présente contribution explore l'importance de la bibliothèque pillée d'al-Arawšī comme lien essentiel entre la Cordoue omeyyade et Tolède. Elle porte également une attention particulière au papier très inhabituel du manuscrit de Tunis, Dār al-kutub al-waṭaniyya, 7116, fait de fibres tissées, peut-être du lin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]