Mujam al-Matbuat al-Arabiyya wa al-Muarraba
- Author died
- 1351 AH
- Editions
- Maṭbaʿat Sarkīs
Mu'jam al-Matbu'at al-Arabiyya wa al-Muarraba (Dictionary of Arabic and Translated Printed Books) is a comprehensive bio-bibliographical dictionary compiled by the Syrian bibliographer Yusuf Ilyan Sarkis (1272–1351 AH / 1856–1932 CE) . It documents Arabic printed books and foreign works translated into Arabic published worldwide from the inception of Arabic printing until the end of 1339 AH (1919 CE) .
Background and Composition
Sarkis undertook the project after finding earlier bibliographical compilations insufficient for the needs of scholars and researchers . He noted that Edward Cornelius Vandiyk's Iktifa al-Qunu bi-ma Huwa Matbu contained significant gaps and omissions, while Abd Allah al-Ansari's Jami al-Tasanif al-Misriyya al-Haditha had been restricted to Egyptian publications from 1301 to 1310 AH and omitted many works from that period .
Sarkis labored on the work for over sixteen years, gathering data on printed titles directly from private and public collections across the Middle East, India, Iran, North Africa, and Europe . In compiling the work, he made extensive use of major Egyptian libraries, particularly al-Khizana al-Taymuriyya, whose owner Ahmad Taymur Pasha placed his entire collection and personal assistance at Sarkis's disposal . Sarkis dedicated the finished catalog to Taymur Pasha on 10 February 1928 . He also acknowledged the assistance of Muhammad al-Biblawi, the Naqib al-Ashraf, who facilitated his research at Dar al-Kutub al-Misriyya, and drew materials from Ahmad Zaki Pasha's private library, al-Maktaba al-Zakiyya .
Structure and Methodology
The work is organized alphabetically by authors' names according to their best-known appellations, nisbas, patronymics, or kunyas (for example, names beginning with Ibn appear under the letter alif-ba-nun, and those beginning with Abu under alif-ba-waw) . For each entry, Sarkis provides:
- The author's dates of birth and death where available, or death date alone, as well as places of birth and death .
- A concise biographical sketch drawn from established classical and modern biographical references .
- A descriptive listing of the author's printed works, indicating the cities of publication, printing presses, dates of imprint, page counts, and variant editions .
- Brief indications of the subject matter or purpose of individual compositions, supplemented by footnotes for additional clarifications .
Sarkis explicitly excluded modern fiction novels, Christian devotional literature, and general periodicals and newspapers, with the exception of selected narratives that possessed historical or literary significance .
Publication and Reception
The book was published in Cairo by Sarkis and his sons at his own printing house (Matbaat Sarkis) in 1346 AH (1928 CE) in a large quarto format, arranged across two columns per page . It was issued in eleven parts bound in two volumes with continuous numbering .
Contemporary scholars and bibliographers welcomed the work as an essential reference. In the journal Lughat al-Arab, Anastas al-Karmali praised Sarkis's lifelong devotion to bibliographical scholarship and described the compilation as an indispensable compendium for any Arabic man of letters, commending its typographic clarity and layout .
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