A Medieval Muslim Scholar at Work: Ibn Ṭāwūs and His Library: Ibn Tawus and His Library: 12 (Islamic Philosophy, Theology, & Science) - Tapa dura

'...einem wichtigen Schritt hin zu einer Kulturgeschichte des Buches in der islamischen Welt und ganz allgemein zu einer Geistesgeschichte der spaten Abbasidenzeit...' P. Heine, Orientalistische Literaturzeitung, 1993. '...provides a detailed picture of the intellectual world of a medieval Muslim scholar...meticulously executed and carefully published...' Christian W. Troll, Centre for the Study of Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations, 1993. '...contribution remarquable et exemplaire...' Revue des Sciences Philosophiques et Theologiques, 1992. 'Je tiens cette monographie pour tres originale...mine de renseignements. On ne remerciera pas assez l'auteur d'avoir procure aux chercheurs un tel instrument de travail.' Mohammed Arkoun, Arabica, 1993. '...one of the more important studies in the cultural and intellectual history of the medieval Islamic world to appear in recent years.' Lawrence I. Conrad, Der Islam, 1993. 'This book...is [a] magnificent piece of work. The author is the world's leading scholar in the field of early Shi'te thought and literature, and when he, after many years of research, publishes what looks like his complete datbase of Shi'te literature collected over the years, the only appropriate thing one can do is express gratitude.' G.H.A. Juynboll, Bibliotheca Orientalis, 1993. '...un travail [...] savant (et [...] impeccablement presente).' Daniel Gimaret, Bulletin Critique des Annales Islamologiques, 1993.

Radi al-Di Ibn tawus (d. 664/1266 in Bagdad) was a major figure in the history of Shi'i thought. He published works on subjects ranging from tradition (hadith) and polemics to history and astrology. Ibn tawus was an avid bibliophile, and his various writings contain remarkably detailed information about the books that he owned or read. Kohlberg's book is divided into two main parts. The first surveys the life, working methods and literary output of Ibn tawus and offers an extended analysis of his library. The second part is an annotated list of all the works (some 660 in number) cited by Ibn tawus in his available writings. About a third of these works (both Sunni and Shi'i) are not extant, and even the existence of some of them has hitherto not been known. The works cover a wide range of subjects, including Qur'anic exegesis, tradition, history, theology, astronomy and genealogy, and provides a detailed picture of the intellectual world of a medieval Muslim scholar. Prof. Kohlberg is a leading authority on Shi'ism, and his monograph is an unusual and important contribution both to the history of Islam and to the history of Arabic literature and science.