Fihris al-Makhtutat al-Arabiya fi al-Maktaba al-Wataniya al-Nimsawiya
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Fihris al-Makhtutat al-Arabiya fi al-Maktaba al-Wataniya al-Nimsawiya (Catalogue of Arabic Manuscripts in the Austrian National Library) is a specialized bibliographic reference work prepared, translated into Arabic, and edited by Muhammad Ayesh, published in 1429 AH / 2008 CE.
Background and Purpose
The Austrian National Library in Vienna (formerly the Imperial Library) amassed thousands of Arabic, Turkish, and Persian manuscripts. In the nineteenth century, the German Orientalist Gustav Flügel compiled the library's first three-volume catalogue, published between 1865 and 1867 CE, which classified manuscripts by subject and included Arabic, Turkish, and Persian holdings described in German. A century later, the Austrian Orientalist Helene Loebenstein catalogued more than 500 Arabic manuscripts acquired by the library between 1868 and 1968 CE, publishing her single-volume catalogue in Vienna in 1970 CE using Latin script for Arabic titles.
Because these original catalogues were largely inaccessible in the Arab world and presented bibliographic descriptions in German, Muhammad Ayesh translated, combined, and standardized their entries into a single Arabic catalogue to facilitate research and critical editing of Islamic manuscripts.
Methodology and Structure
In compiling the catalogue, Ayesh implemented several editorial and bibliographic procedures:
- Extracted and catalogued all Arabic manuscripts recorded in both Flügel's and Loebenstein's catalogues.
- Standardized book titles and authors' names against authoritative biographical and bibliographical dictionaries, adding death dates for authors.
- Recorded the incipit (bidayah) of each manuscript as documented in the source catalogues, along with physical details such as page counts, copyists' names, and transcription dates when available.
- Cross-referenced manuscript titles with relevant discipline-specific sources to aid researchers in locating other copies of the texts.
- Included comprehensive analytical indexes for author names and book titles.
Highlighted Holdings
The work highlights key features of the Austrian National Library's Arabic manuscript collection:
- Autographs: Over forty manuscript copies penned by their original authors, featuring certificates of transmission (ijazat) and audition records (sama'at), such as works by Ibn al-Furat, Ibn Hijjah al-Hamawi, and Shihab al-Din al-Khafaji.
- Royal and Treasury Copies: Luxury manuscripts produced for royal and princely libraries, including volumes copied for Mamluk sultans such as al-Nasir and Qaytbay.
- Early Dated Copies: Manuscripts transcribed in early centuries, such as a copy of Abu 'Umar Muhammad ibn Yusuf al-Kindi's contemporaries recorded from the sixth and seventh centuries AH.
- Rare and Unprinted Works: Unique copies of unedited texts, including parts of historical and literary works by al-Adfuwi, al-Safadi, and others.
Publication
The work was published in its first edition in 1429 AH / 2008 CE by Saqifat al-Safa Trust in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
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