Contents: Introduction Part I General and Introductory: Islamic book history: parameters of a discipline, Michael W. Albin 'Of making many books there is no end': the classical Muslim view, Franz Rosenthal. Part II Manuscripts: The script and book craft in the Hebrew medieval codex, Malachai Beit-Arie Between the lines: realities of scribal life in the 16th century, Cornell H. Fleischer Early Islamic bookbindings and their Coptic relations, Theodore C. Petersen The human element between text and reader: the ijaza in Arabic manuscripts, Jan Just Witkam Technical practices and recommendations recorded by classical and post-classical Arabic scholars concerning the copying and correction of manuscripts, Adam Gacek The copyists' working pace: some remarks towards a reflexion on the economy of the book in the Islamic world, Francois Deroche. Part III Introduction of Printing: From the manuscript age to the age of printed books, Muhsin Mahdi A virgin deserving Paradise or a whore deserving poison: manuscript tradition and printed books in Ottoman Turkish society, Orlin Sabev (Orhan Salih) Mass producing houri's moles: or aesthetics and choice of technology in early Muslim book printing, Ian Proudfoot Medieval Arabic tarsh: a forgotten chapter in the history of printing, Richard W. Bulliet Islamic reformist discourse in the Tulip period (1718-30): Ibrahim Muteferriqa and his arguments for printing, Stefan Reichmuth The beginnings of Hebrew printing in Egypt, Diana Rowland-Smith. Part IV Printing Development and Print Culture: Hebrew printing houses in the Ottoman empire, Yaron Ben Na'eh Arab booksellers and bookshops in the age of printing, 1850-1914, Ami Ayalon On the question of lithography, Brinkley Messick Rich men, poor men: Ottoman printers and booksellers making fortune or seeking survival (18th-19th centuries), Orlin Sabev (Orhan Salih) Functional perspectives on technology: the case of the printing press in the Ottoman empire, J.S. Szyliowicz The birth of tradition and modernity in 18th and 19th century Islamic culture - the case of printing, Reinhard Schulze The printing press and change in the Arab world, Geoffrey Roper Islam and the art of printing, H.A. Avakian Mass culture and Islamic cultural production in 19th century Middle East, Reinhard Schulze Who read what in the Ottoman empire (19th-20th centuries)?, Johann Strauss The beginnings of publishing in pre-1948 Palestine, Ami Ayalon Mesrop's heirs: the early Armenian book printers, Meline Pehlivanian Edward Breath and the typography of Syriac, J.F. Coakley Name index.