Umdat al-Kitab wa Uddat Dhawi al-Albab

Umdat al-Kitab wa Uddat Dhawi al-Albab (The Scribes' Mainstay and the Equipment of the Wise) is an Arabic manual on scribal crafts, ink-making, papermaking, and bookbinding attributed to the Zirid ruler al-Mu'izz ibn Badis (398–454 AH / 1008–1062 CE) Tarajim al-Muallifin al-T…+1.

Authorship and Attribution

The composition is widely attributed to the Zirid sovereign of Ifriqiya, al-Mu'izz ibn Badis, as recorded by Carl Brockelmann and other biographical sources Tarajim al-Muallifin al-T…+1. In other bio-bibliographical works, including Hajji Khalifa's Kashf al-Zunun, Khayr al-Din al-Zirikli's al-A'lam, and Umar Rida Kahhala's Mu'jam al-Mu'allifin, the work is alternatively ascribed to the philologist and grammarian Abu al-Qasim Yusuf ibn Abd Allah al-Zajjaji al-Jurjani (352–415 AH / 963–1024 CE) Kashf al-Zunun an Asami a…+1.

Purpose and Scope

The treatise was composed as a practical guide compiling the technical arts and material knowledge essential to scribes Umdat al-Kitab wa Uddat D…. The author states in the introduction that he gathered tried and tested recipes, tools, and craft techniques related to writing that a professional scribe cannot afford to neglect, in order to facilitate mastery of the discipline without undue hardship Umdat al-Kitab wa Uddat D….

Structure and Contents

The text is organized into twelve thematic chapters (abwab):

1. Pens, script, and writing instruments: The merits of the pen and calligraphy, the selection of quality reeds, carving and trimming pens according to different scripts, the description of the inkwell, and the selection of penknives and associated tools Umdat al-Kitab wa Uddat D….
2. Soot-based inks: Methods and recipes for compounding various types of carbon ink (midad), including Chinese, Persian, and Indian preparations Umdat al-Kitab wa Uddat D…+1.
3. Black gall-inks: Compounding varieties of iron-gall and other black inks (ahbar sawda'), including inks designed for manuscript copyists of the Quran Umdat al-Kitab wa Uddat D…+1.
4. Colored inks: Formulations for producing colored inks such as white and red inks Umdat al-Kitab wa Uddat D…+1.
5. Inkwell waddings: The preparation and treatment of fibers (liyaq) inserted into inkwells Umdat al-Kitab wa Uddat D….
6. Dyes: Coloring, mixing, and treating various dyes, including methods for dyeing paper and leather Umdat al-Kitab wa Uddat D…+1.
7. Metallic writing: Writing with dissolved gold, silver, copper, and tin, as well as metallic substitutes and gold leaf application Umdat al-Kitab wa Uddat D…+1.
8. Cryptographic writing: Concealing secrets in correspondence and preparing invisible or encoded scripts (wad' al-asrar fi al-kutub) Umdat al-Kitab wa Uddat D….
9. Erasure agents: Compounding chemical solutions and mixtures used to erase writing from quires, paper notebooks, and parchment leaves Umdat al-Kitab wa Uddat D….
10. Glues, adhesives, and gilding tools: Making snail glue, dissolving fish glue, affixing gold and silver leaf, burnishing stones and techniques, hair and feather brushes, and tools used for metallic embellishment Umdat al-Kitab wa Uddat D…+1.
11. Papermaking: Manufacturing rag paper (al-kaghad) from hemp, decorating and engraving pens, and sizing, dyeing, and artificially aging paper sheets Umdat al-Kitab wa Uddat D…+1.
12. Bookbinding: Leather preparation, tanning, binding techniques, and the fabrication and maintenance of bookbinding implements (including marble slabs, sharpening stones, trimming blades, presses, needles, rules, and compasses) to make the scribe independent of professional bookbinders Umdat al-Kitab wa Uddat D…+1.

Manuscripts and Publication

Manuscripts of the work are preserved in several international collections, including the Egyptian National Library (Dar al-Kutub al-Misriyya) in Cairo, the Gotha Research Library in Germany, the Chester Beatty Library in Dublin, the General Awqaf Library in Baghdad, and King Saud University Library in Riyadh Tarajim al-Muallifin al-T…+1. The text was edited and published in Cairo in 1971 in the journal of the Institute of Arabic Manuscripts (Majallat Ma'had al-Makhtutat al-Arabiyya) Mujam Tarikh al-Turath al…+1.