Arabic bookmaking and terminology as portrz.
yedby
Bakr al-Ishbili in his Kinb al-ta1srft ;ina'at al-taL|r
by Adam Cacek
In surveyingclassicaland post-classicalArabic litera-
ture for titles on bookbinding, cne is surprisedto learn
that all the texts of relevanceto this field which have
come down to us were composedin the Maghreb. It is
also surprisingthat we have at our disposalonly three
compositionsof this kind. Yet we all know that the
book in Islamic civilization has played a fundamental
role and that from the Abbasid period onwards there
existeda professioncalled w'irqah,which was directly
concernedwith book production and distribution. It is
not inconceivablethat other textbooks on this craft
will one day emerge.Suffice it to mention here that
one such work composedby a certain Abd al-Rahmn
ibn Abi Hamrdah and entitled Tadht al-.sa./r./sina'at
al-asfir,housedin the Egyptian National Library, has
r e c e n t l yc o m e t o o u r a t t e n t i o nr .
'Umdat
The three above-mentionedworks are al-
kuttab w'a-'uddatdhatrral-albc\bof al-Mu'izz ibn Bdrs
(d.454i1062)2,Kifib al-ta1'sr./i sinu'ut al-tas/ir of
Bakr ibn Ibrhim ibn al-Mujhid al-Lakhmi al-Ishbih
(d.628i1231 or 629t1232)3 and Sina'at tu.sfr al-
kutub w'a-hallal-dhahubof Ahmad ibn Muhammad al-
Sufyni (fl.102911619)a. The works of Ibn Bds and
al-Sufyni are well known. This, however, cannot be
said of the work of al-Ishbrli. The most recent and
important studieson Islamic bookbinding publishedin
the West do not even mention this handbook in their
bibliographicalsections.
Bakr al-Ishbrhwas a man of letters (adb)and poet,
who earned his living as a bookbinder. His skills were
greatly appreciated at the Almohad court. He was
'Uth-
most probably involved in the restorationof the
manic codex (al-Mushal al-'Uthmanz],which was given
to the first Almohad ruler Abd al-Mu'min (reg. 5241
1130- 557 1162)by the peopleof Cordova (Qurtu-
bah) s. His textbook on bookbinding was composedin
the reign of Abu Yusuf Ya'q[b al-Mans[r (reg. 580/
ll84 5 9 4 / 1 1 9 8a) n d d e d i c a t e dt o h i m . O n l y o n e
copy of the original text has survived. Although col-
lated in 104411634,the manuscript is unfortunately
imperfect as it does not contain the illustrations pro-
mised by the author and a number of words are
wanting due to damagedone by worms?. In addition,
the printed text contains many distortions and errors,
some found in the exemplar and some most certainly
due to bad printing. Despite this, the work of al-
Manuscripts of the Middle East 5 (1990-1991) Q Ter Lugt Press, Donkersteeg 19.2312HA
Ishbrh, as we know it, gives us already enough infor-
mation to enrich our knowledge of Arabic book-
making. It is the most comprehensiveof manuals for
bookbinders.It describestechniquesand processesnot
to be found in the other two texts and. what is most
intersting,employs.in many situations,a very differ-
ent vocabulary. For example, the characteristicen-
velope flap is referred to by al-lshbrli as ttdhn (lit. ear),
whereas the same is called by al-Sufynl ntarji' (lit.
return, perhaps indicating the place to which one
returns after having interrupted one's reading, thus
serving as a bookmarker, or the fact that the flap,
being an extension of the lower cover, makes, as it
were, a return journey) or lisc\rt(lit. tongue)t. We
notice other words connectedu,ith the human body:
shidq (lit. cheek. i.e. casing or covers).r/n's(lit. molar
tooth, i.e. pallet or interlace).qqn (spine,back), sadr
(lit. chest. i.e. fore-edge or fore-edgeflap). wajh al-
kirah (h. face of the book. i.e. upper cover or front of
the textbiock).Most of the technicalvocabulary,need-
lessto say. is no longer used in modern Arabic works
on bookbindinge
The main body of Ktab al-ta1'srris divided into
twenty unnumberedchapters(abu'ab).They are:
l. tools (adah\
2. adhesives (aghr i1'"ah)
3. sewinggatherings(.takhzrm)
4. backing (taq1fiyah)
5. aligning quires and trimming (tasv'.vah)
6. endbanding(habk)to
7. lining inner covers(tabttn)
8. paring leather (bashr)
9. mounting, covering with leather (tarkb al-.jilfl
10. working with worn bindings (al-asfaral-batt'all
11. cooking brazilwood (tabkh al-baqqam)
12.tooling (naqsh)
13. creating interlace(naqshol-dir,s)
14. examples(amthilah,not supplied)
15. making knobs and fasteners(azrrah wa-'uran) for
claspsI I
16. making sieeve-cases (aqrihat al-masahi/)
17. making boxes (.al-aqribahal-mabnt.,-ah)
18. making boxesfor tools (majanti'12
'tips' (nukat)r3
19. remarks,
20. flaws in bookbinding ('uyub)
Leiden, Netherlands, 1993 rssN0920-0401
 ADAM GACEK.ARABIC BOOKMAKING AND TER\'II\OLOG) I r,-

Of particular importance are the sectionson weavlng against them were not enough. An addendum (drr-
endbandsand tooling. The Greco-Romanor Coptic mtnah)to al-Ishbrlt'swork saysthat books shouid be
tradition is quite evident in endbanding.Biind tooling fumigated with the feathers of hoopoes and that the
done with heatedtools and the panel stamp. including inscription I'a ka1'kata.iwas also quite effectivers.
the oval medallion. were already in use in the time of The main implements (matra'tn) were: rniqrud
al-Ishbili. So was gold tooling and arabesque(vegetal) (shears), rniquddah (long. crescent-shapedknife for
decoration. trimming, used by the people of the Mashriq), ntil:ant
Before we commence this short analysis of al-Ish- (press, most probably a screw press, for backing).
blT's work it has to be stated that some of the another milzam (press for shaving), iron implement
technical terms used by him are not always clear. (hadtdah) for tightening and unfastening the press,
Many of them cannot be found in standard diction- haiar al-misann(whetstone).mihatl (tracer).isla (awl.
ariesra. On many occasionsone has to resortto one's punch), i,sh/raqtq (thin awl for work with sleavecases
imagination in order to visualisea given ornament or and the like). ihrah (needle for endbanding codices
technique.The lack of illustrations in this manual as with wooden boards). al-thaql (thick needle?).called
well as a dearth of surviving specimensof the period by its opposite al-kha (thin). mdlok (burnisher for
call for caution. After having perusedthis work. our doublures and the application of saffron. za'faran, on
irnmediate reaction was the desire to reconstruct the them), kuroh min khasha(wooden ball for burnishing.
picture of the bound Arabic codex by summarisingthe used by some binders instead of midluk), sikkn (knife
processesinvolved in its making. for trimming, shaving),lav'havn(two wooden boards.
We notice in the flrst place that Arabic codiceswere used during lining), takht (wooden pressing boards).
bound in either wooden boards (ul-masahiJ'al-mulax'- rukhamah (marble slab), sahal (slab for tooling),
v'ul.ttth)or pasteboards (al-ntas1hif ol-sifrrrah). The ntinshar (saw). mimlasah (cf. malisa. to be smooth.
word mushaf'doesnot necessarilyrefer here to a copy even; plane-likeinstrument),ntidlu/'(cf. dilah. wing of
of the Qur'an, even though Qur'anic codices were a two part window or door; perhapsa chisel),ntithqab
more likely to have been bound in wooden boards. (drill for making holes in boards when endbanding).
The word which probably does refer to a bound ntitruqah (mallet). niqtu' (implement for ixing and
Quraniccodexis rab'ah1s.Al-Ishbrh appearsto make removing decoration from covers).miiv'dh (cutter for
'u.shur
another interestingdistinction between mushaf , on the gold leaf). (for the applicationof gold. with the
one hand, and sifr and kitab, on the other. The mushaJ centralpart. which can eitherbe engravedor plain. see
is a codex consistingof parchment leavesand sf' or below), ntalusuh (perhaps ntintlasuh.as above). also
kitab have paper textblockst.Cedar (ar;) was used known as msqalah(polisher used in tooling). rnishtab
br wooden boards.The doublures(hata'in')were made (cf. shathah, shattahah, broom: perhaps a duster,
of ordinary leather (7iid), soft leather (sulfah. used whisk). qartabun ( square) , rlabi1 (compass). qubtc\l
among other things as inner lining of shoes),cloth (also known as mistarah, tha is a ruler or straight
(khirqah).paper (kAghact).parchment (raqq) andior edge),qanun(trapezium-likeinstrument for tab),tt,i.e.
sllk (khazz).The codex could consist either of quires creating compartments and frames), hajar al-burkan
and was thus called mukurrus (from kttrra.s.i.e. quire. (pumice for smoothing the edges after trimming),
gathering) or, what is of significance.bi-folios or three pieces of wood (aqlam) for making boxes for
conjugateleaves(zax'i.pl. u:ttc1j.lit.pair. couple).The t o o l s1 e.
quires and bi-folios could be glued together. The Beloreseu.ing(tttkh:ttrt).quiresand conjugateleaves
adhesives (ghira', pl. aghril'air) were pastes made of had to be put together (tadbrr). They had to be
brown (?) flour (al-daqtq ul-ahntur). high quality wheat arranged in such a wa!' that the lines (nrr.ltarali)were
flour (dorrna), wheat starch Qta.shan)and ibriintalt symmetrical.The back rvas pounded with a mallet
(most probably similar in consistencyto darntak)r1' (tatrq) to make it even and minimise swelling.Silk
lVashanbeing less solid was more suitable for gluing thread (harrr) was preferable particularly for parch-
paper. The parchment codex required a pastemade of ment leaves because of its jneness and strength.
darntak.becauseit was thicker |han nashan Adhesives Unlike paper doublures, those of leather and cloth
were preparedeither by cooking the main ingredientin could be sewnto the textblock.Parchmentquireswere
water or in the infusion of absinthe,otherwiseknown sewn in twos, whereaspaper quires individually.The
as wormwood (afsitn. ifsantrn)or the roots of colo- next step was to back the textblock. The backing
cynlh ('alqam), or aloe (sabir, sabr), all being strong (taqfiyah)consistedof rounding (taqbrb)of the spine.
purgatives. Al-Ishbrl says that it was good to use Al-Ishbrlr tells us that the spine (qu/'rur)should be
mixed glues (gftira' mashub),that is the second cate- rounded (muqahbab)and not fla (musattah). olher-
gory, as protection against worms. But becausethe wise. when the book becomesold. the fore-edgeflap
mixed adhesivesturn dark and ugly, the first category (;udr al-kitah, al-muqaddum) will protrude. He
was recommended for gluing quires and conjugate explainsthat with age spinestend to go flat. Therefore,
leaves.Worms. as we know, were formidable enemies the spine should be rounded at the beginningto avoid
of books. The more scientific methods employed this consequentflaw. The spine was then lined, the
108 M A N U S C R I P T SO F T H E M I D D L E E A S T 5 I 9 9 0 - I 9 9 I ' )

Figure l. Terminology for the constituent part of Islamic (J-ti

books in codex form. (After a drawing in Gulnar Bosch, CASING,COVERS
John Carswell and Guy Petherbridge. Islamic Binding and
Bookmaking(Chicago I 981).

endcart
.:q- td

,I
+.j
endband SPINE
UPPER COVER

FORE-EDGE F L A P c*!
i ./

\\
S
s,'
S-,: F 1q/
qo.t
SS\
\-
I

-1
L

i-
turn-tn
- t
oP
II
1.,
ENVELOPEFLAP DOUBLURE
fore_edge /lap TEXTBLOCK
jll linng and hinges iU-
i^-! r;-iL"
\:V\,
(:j>-' .9k lre-;

u\-
QUIRE, GATHERING

7 NX
,ffi /./ t/,/

{)t r / / /
, r/ ' / / // -. //
/
Nr 49\.

i\l
leaf, folio leaf, folio
Figure2. Terminologyfor the constituent
parts of a sheetin an Islamic book in
codexform. (After a drawingin J.J.Wir
kam, ArabicManuscriptsin theLibrary of
;P
margin
w
number of lines
the Universityof Leden(...). A General CONJUGATE LEAF per page
Introductionto the Catalogue(Leiden1982). BI-FOLIO
 ADAM GACEK. ARABIC BOOKMAKING AND TERMINOLOGY
hinges glued on to the inner cover and three to four
sheetsof paper (taqat) were placed on top of them. In
codices with wooden boards strips of parchment
(mu'allaqat)were inserted betweenthe board and the
textblock (ba1,"na al-lan'h u,a-al-mu$ha/)
in such a way
that they would overlap onto the spine. The hinges
were glued onto the inner board and pastedover with
a sheet of parchment. Some bookbinders, however,
would use paper for this purpose. Codices bound in
paste-boardscould have their doubluresmade of cloth
(khirqah). Al-Ishbrli mentions, however, that he saw
binders covering the spine with cloth and the inner
covers with soft leather (sulfah, nol suflah, as given in
t w o o t h e ri n s t a n c e s ) .
When reparing worn or damaged codices (al-affir
al-ban'all, al-Ishbrl recommends putting slips of
paper ('alamat min al-kaghaQ in the middle of quires
to make sure that one does not miss a quire when
endbanding20.Strips of leather lining Qnu'allaqatntin
al-jild), called rawaji', should also be used no matter
whether the doublures are made of leather or paper.
There were also binders. he adds, who used a single
leather mu'allaqah to fasten the quires to one of the
linings of the covering (bata'in al-kisn'ah).One could,
however, glue the mu'allaqah onto the doublure or
place the doublure over it and al-Ishbrhstatesthat the
latter method was better.
The format (qalib) was arrived at by measuringthe
textblock using qartabun and dabit or by marking the
quires. The textblock was shaved (takhJd),its edges
smoothed with a pumice and the endbands woven
(habk). The core of the endband was a leather thong
(.muftut) around which the band was woven. One
should begin with an ordinary thread (khat't)piercing
the middle of the quires (karorrs)and going round the
leather thong. The needle would pass through the
middle of the first and last quires twice, in order to
make it stronger. This preliminary sewing was called
al-kha1'tal-tashbtk.The second stage was the appli-
cation of a silk thread (hartr). There were however
those who used only either ordinary thread or silk
thread for the preliminary process.as well as end-
banding (tahbtk).According to al-Ishbrlieight types of
Byzantine (Greek) endbands (al-ahbak al-rumrl'ah)
were known in his time. However, he describesoniy
four of them. because the other four were more
complicated and required demonstration: l. endband
of one colour, 2. chess board-like (al-shatranj),in
which the colours alternate,e.g. red and green 3. che-
vron-like. zigzag-llke (al-mudalla', lit. ribbed) 4. a
variant of the chevron endband called al-dal (rotating
or trellis-like). The endbanding here was done with
two needles.In codiceswith wooden boards the end-
bands should be attached to the holes pierced in the
wood. The author, although he had not seen it, also
reports that some bookbinders used the endbandsto
inscribeon them the title of the book2r.
The next step in the processof binding was to pare
109
the leather (bashr al-jilfi and mount it on the boards
(tarkrb).It was done with one or two piecesof leather.
Two pieceswere used if the flap (udhn) was prepared
separately.This type of binding is called al-mukassar
(lit. broken). When attaching wooden boards a piece
of paper was placed betweenthe board and the leather
covering to protect the leather from moisture issuing
from the wood. The sheet of paper acted also as a
padding when the leather was tooled. The single en-
velope flap is an interestingelement here for it seems
to have appeared in Islamic binding about the time
when al-Ishbh practisedhis craft. Before then codices
are supposedto have been enclosedon all four sides
and fastenedby means of knobs and thongs attached
to the upper and lower covers22.The author of our
text says that the principle behind the flap is that it
'ala
should lie on the textblock (matbu' al-sifr) so that
it would not need a knob and thong. He also seemsto
be saying that there were codiceswith flaps held over
the upper cover (l'ajh al-kitab) and fastened with
zamm (most probably a thong used to tie up the
book). The flap should be smaller than one half of the
cover by the head of the knob. Books were also covered
wrth shidq (or shadq). The word shidq according to
Lane and Dozy signifiesthe inner sidesof cheeksand
the cheeksthemselves23. In our context. this is most
likely the coversor casing.This type of cover consisted
of a pieceof leather,two or three sheetsof paper and,
on top, a sheetof parchment.The edges(turar) of the
leather were turned in and and glued onto the parch-
ment sheet.The covers (ashdaq)were usually made of
one piece of leather, particularly in the case of a/-
ntasahif al-sifrrvah, and thus formed a casing. The
layers of paper and parchment constituted paste-
boards.
Having coveredthe book. the next step was tooling
(naqsh).Vanous tools (taxh'. l.tada'icl)and stamps
(khaN'atim) were used for this purpose. They can
broadly be divided into tools lor geometrical and
vegetal design. There are among them: cornerpiece
(rukn), fillel (tartq). mandorla (lax'zah)and two types
'ushar.
of stamps called (literally asclepiasgigantea.a
type of Eurasian vine. most probably some kind of
vegetaldecoration).one of which, with or without an
incised design, served for the application of gold.
There is also w'araqah(vine leaf), mish'ar (from the
verb sha'ara, to feel, sense,cf. also sfta?, hair; most
probably a tendril), tu'mah (lit. bait; bag; also thread
going through the chain, possiblya caliceor palmette),
midrabah (lit. bat, drum stick, possibly a stalk), mir-
ba'ah (lit. staff, piece of wood for lifting, possibly
another type of stalk), qamhah (lit. wheat grain),
lamltmat (cf. mulamlam, roLtnd, rounded and mulamli-
mah, elephant'stusk), sa/at (lit. basket; scaies,of fish),
'uqdah
(lit. knot) and zahr al-qalabbaq(lit. back of the
tortoise, most probably the same as sadr al-baz, i.e.
falcon's breast in Ibn Bds)2a. The typical cover
designwould consistof an interlace(dirs) with either a
 lr0 M A N U S C R I P T SO F T H E M I D D L E E A S T 5 ( I 9 9 0 - I 9 9 1 )

crccle(da'iroh)or four-. six- or eight-pointedmedallion However, it is not altogether clear what is meant by
(khatim nturabha', musaddas, muhamntan) in the udhn in this context. It is likely that udhn signified a
centre, although the centre could also be filled with a flange or edge flap and not only an envelope flap,
pattern of interlactngs (hikd1'at al-dirs). For small which lay under the upper cover. This structure was
format codices (al-a.s.faral-ntukhasarah)the Egyptian built around a form @Alib),covered with basan (r-
style binding (al-tas.firal-ntsri), with a lat.:ah and anah)and had what al-IshbrlrefersIo as latt,z,which
'ushar
in the centre, is recommended.The decoration is most likely to be an element of the clasp. The lid
of the envelope flap could consist of a medallion does not seemto be mentionedin an explicit way. The
surroundedby a tabur (lit. chest.coffin; also top, half- adhancould be made with one pieceof leather for the
top, of a ship. i.e. pentagonalframe) or a pattern of whole structure or separatelyand the latter method.
small tools. Betweenthe border (turrall and the rAbil, statesal-Ishbrh,was preferable.
the area which is called llashtr al-udhn.an 'ushar was The'tips'(nukat) given at the end inciude:removal
placed.Whatever the decoration on the flap, it had to of hair from skins by means of wax. giving sharpness
be symmetrical with the decoration on the upper to pumice by immersing it in vinegar (klnll), improv-
cover. The principle of the interlace (dirs) says al- ing the quality of nashan by transferring it into an-
Ishbrl, was the 'cutting and the cut' (al-qAti' v'a-al- other recepacle(ina') to eliminateexcessmoisture (/-
maqtu'), that is intersectinglines which form compart- vajtadib al-ina' al-rutuhah) and removal of oily sub-
ments (huvut).The outer border (turrah) could consist stances(za"vt)from paper by placing on it hot gypsum
of one or several frames (but'ut), created by fillets fiss) or flour (daqtq) or ground argll (rufl ntushuq').
(turuq). and panels (buhur). The compartmentsin the A1-Ishbrliconcludes:
interlace were filled in with a variety of small tools 'Among
the flaws of binding are blistereddoublures
such as a pallet ((irs), of a long and connectingvariety (bata'in). missing flap (udhn), narrow fore-edge flap
(al-ta*-1,al-silah),two types of takhrl (pallet-like imple- (.muqaddam), flat spine (qqan). irregular arrangement
ment for outlining), i.e. takhl al-dirs and takhl al- of quires (tasx'it'ah).covering (kisnzlt) flash with the
tawtl, a gouge, tress (dafrah) and a dot (nuqtah). The tertblock (kirAh)2.tooling (nuq.sh)charred. fillet or
first frame (bayt) says ai-Ishbli. should always be frllets(turq) in the flap not symmetricalwith those on
filled with chainwork (silsilah) and the number of the upper col'er (rlailt ul-kitdh).1ackof smoothnessin
frames could vary from one to five, dependingon the burnishing klalk). une\,encut of the leather near the
format of the codex. Borders consiting of more than endband(l.tahk).interlace(dir.i)disjoined.one border
five frames were made mostly for large boxesichests (turrult) u'ider than the other and the medallion
(al-tawbrt al-j Afi1'ah al-ajr am). (du'irah) lacking shape.'
It is interestingto note that the iron tools were As can be seenfrom the above brief analysis.the
heated and cooled down in fresh water (al-nta' al- picture which emergesis proof of a highly developed
'adhb)
becauseusing water which was not fresh(al-ma' craft. A craft which had its own technicalvocabulary
al-zu'aq.lit. unpotable.i.e. in most casessea water) and was a reflection of the society and its pre-
would damage them. Wax (sham) was also used for ocupation with the written transmissionof knowledge.
this purpose to give the tooling elegance.In order to
add beauty and shine to the tooled covers, some
binders useda variety of oily substances(duhn)extrac- NOTES
' This title is thus recorded by Abbs
ted from saffiower (ntisrah)", pulp of darnel (.shal.tnt 'al-Khatt al-Azzwi in his
al-marj), walnut (al-jaw'z), malva arborea (khubbcl:a, wa-mashhrr al-khatttin fi al-watan al-Arabi'.
khuhazal, eggs (al-bayd), Sunter. 38, no.1i2 (1982), p.300. Al:Azzwr exrracted rhis
and the like. Brazilwood
information from 'Fihris Dr al-Kutub al-Misriyah'
(baqqam) was, however, suflrcient for this purpose.
( v o l u m e 6 , p . 1 4 2 ) . T h e e x i s t e n c eo f t h i s m a n u s c r i p ti n D r
adds al-Ishbrl. 'Is
a l - K u t u bi s a l s oa r t e s r e rdo b y Iskandaa r l-Ma;lIf in his
The final chapters deal with making clasps which 'Khaz'in
al-kutub al-Arabryah'. Mojattat al-Majma' al-
consist of knobs (azirrah) and leather fasteners('uran, ' I l m r a l - A r a h r ,v o l u m e 3 ( 1 9 2 3 ) .p . 1 4 5 . T h e
author of this
lit. thongs),as well as sleeve-cases and boxes(aqrihah). work is not given but the title is recorded as'llazm tadbtral-
The main feature of a sleeve-case (qirub ntakhru:, i.e. tasJirfi sina'atal-kutuh'. Al-Ma'l[f saysthat the manuscript
stitched,sewn) was that it had two flaps (.udhnun)and is housed n al-Maktabah a\-Tavnturrl'ah.Despite numerous
could therefore be opened on either side. Sleeve-caseseffortsa copy of this manuscriptcould not be obtained.It is
for more than two volumes were rarely made. For rnterestingto nore here rhat Ahmad ibn Ardln (d.992i
works consisting of several volumes a box (qirab f 584), the author of aLLa'iq li-mu'allim al-v.atha'iq, also
mabn4 i.e. constructed) or wooden chest (tahn) are composeda work on bookbinding in verse.A fragment of it
is cited rn al-Sufynr's Sin'at tasJr al-kutu (see below.
recommended.Al-Ishbh describesthe box as having
note 4) on p.2. Furthermore, in the work of al-Ishbili there
adhan. Becauseof the use of the plural form and not are references
to two other compilations: a book by Nabrl
the dual, as in the case of qirab makhrrT:,one can ibn Nabllal-Ru'ayni and'al-Tadbr
/ sind'atal-tasfr'by an
assumethat such a structurehad more than two flaps. anonymous author (both works could not as yet be
identi-
This would presupposethe existenceof a portfolio. fied closer).
 ADAM GACEK.ARABIC BOOKMAKING AND TERMINOLOGY lll

2 'Llmda al-kuttah has been edited by Abd al-Sattr al- Abd al-Bsitibn Mus al-Almar'v].al-Mu't|.fi adahaLmid
'Ubayd.
Halwajr and Ah Abd al-Muhsin Zaki n Majallat Ma'had v,a-al-ntustaid. ed. Ahmad Damascus. 1349 4.H..
ul-Makhtutat al- Arabt,vah(volume l1 (1971) pp. 44-172)and p . 1 3 2 ) .T h e w o r d k h a r : . o n t h e o t h e r h a n d . m e a n ss e w i n g
'Medieval s .a i r o . 1 3 1 6 - 2 1
translated by M. Levey in his Arabic book- l e a t h e r( s e eI b n S r d a h .K i t a h a l - n t u k h a s s o C
making and its relation to early chemistry and pharma- A . H . p t . 1 0 . p . 9 a l - k h a r : k h t ' a t a ta l - a d a n t ) .
cology', Transac'tionsof the American Philosophic'alSociety, rr The text readsghara (sic) in two places.
N . S . 5 2 . p t . 4 ( 1 9 6 2 ) .p p . 5 - 5 0 .F o r t h e t r a n s l a t i o no f t h e 1 2 T h e t e x t r e a d s j a r t u r t r i ' . H o w e v eor .n p a g e 1 2 ,l i n . 4 w e
'The
chapter on bookbinding seealso G.K. Bosch, staff of find'. u;a-thalathat aqlam min ul-'ucl makhrutah l-'antal ul-
the scribes and the implements of the discerning, an majnta'. For mojmu' (pl. ntajmi) see R. Doz.v.Sttpplentent
, ( 1 9 6 1 ) .p p . l - 1 3 . F o r t h e t r a n s - a u x d i c t i o n n a i r easr u b e s , 3e d . . ( P a r i s .1 9 6 1 ) .v o l . l ' p . 2 1 7 .
e x c e r p t ' ,A r s O r i e n t a l i s 4
lation of the chapter on paper making see J. Karabacek, 13 Originally nakth (?). correctedby the editor to nLrka.
'Neue Mittheilungenaus der 1a The dictionaries used for this study were in the first
Quellen zur Papiergeschichte'.
Samntlungder PapyrusErzher:ogRainer.4 (1888),pp.84-90 place the above mentioned Supplntentof Dozy. as well as
'Le papier arabe au moyen age et sa
and C.M. Briquet, E. W. Lane, Arahc-Engli.shlericon (Cambridge, Islamic
fabrication' in Briquet's opuscula.ed. E.J. Labarre (Hilver- T e x t s S o c i e t y .1 9 8 4 ) ;A . d e B i b e r s t e i nK a z i m i r s k i .D i c t i o n -
s u m , 1 9 5 5 ) .p p . 1 6 2 - 1 6 9T . h e r e e x i s t sa l s o a P e r s i a nv e r s i o n naire arabe-frangais,(Paris, 1960),Hans Wehr, A dctonar1."
of this work preservedin the India Office Library. London of modern written Arabic (Arabic-English), ed. J. Milton
(see Y. Porter, 'Une traduction persane du trait de Ibn Cowan, 4th ed. (Wiesbaden,1979) and Martin Hinds and
'Umdat
Bdis. al-kuttb'. Manuscrits du Moven Orient, El-Said Badawi, A Dictionary of Egyptian Arabic. Arabic-
essaisde codicologieet de palographie,Parisllstanbul 1989. English(Beirut, 1986).Many other dictionarieswere consulted
3 Kitab al-taystr sina'ar ul-tusJr.ed. Abd Allh Kan- but most of them did not add more than could be extracted
/
n[n. Reur.sladel Insttuto cle Estudios Islamicos en Modrcl from the ones enumeratedabove.
(: $ahtar Mu'had ul-Dirusar al-Islamyah).7-8 (19.59-60). r s I b n S i d a h ( o p . c ' i r . ,p t . 1 3 . p . 8 ) g i v e s a d e f i n i t i o n o f
pp.1-12, 191-199 (Spanishabstract). mu;11a./ as containing folios (;uhu.f)enclosedbetween two
a Sina'at tasr al-kutub v'a-halluLdlnhuh (: L'art de la covers (al-jami' lil-suhuf al-maktuhah bavna al-da.fJatayn\'
d o r u r e e t d e l a r e l i u r e ) ,e d . P . R i c a r d ( F e z . l 9 l 9 ; P a r i s , For the meaning of the word rah'ah (copy of the Qur'n;
'The ancient Siiill of
1925). English translation by M. Levey in Transactions. box, chest)seemy Qayrawn'. MELA
p p . 5 l - 5 5 . B o t h t h e w o r k o f I b n B d sa n d a l - S u f y n rh a v e N o t e s ,n o . 4 6 ( 1 9 8 9 ) ,p p . 2 7 - 2 8 .
b e e nq u o t e d e x t e n s i v e l iyn G . K . B o s c h .J . C a r s w e l la n d G . 16.The word si/r (from the Hebrew sefer)as recordedin
Petherbridge, Lslamit'bndings antl bookmaking, a catalogue the Sijill of Qayrawn means a non-Qur'anic codex bound
'The
of an erhibition (Chicago. l98l). in the section on in pasteboards.Furthermore. in all its occurencesin the
materials. techniques and structures of Islamic book- Silll/ the writing surface is not given or is given as paper.
making'. Parchmentis not mentioned. whereasin the caseof daJ'tttr
s Seethe introduction to Kitab al-cn'srr.quoting Ibn al- both paper and parchment occur as textblocks (seeprece-
Qdi's Jadhv'ctt al-qtihs, as well as I'timd Ylsuf al- ding reference).
'inda r r F o r d u r n t a k( S p a n i s ha d a r g a n t csi )e eD o z y . v o l . l , p . 4 1 .
Qusayri. Fann al-ta.iltd al-Muslintrn (Baghdad. 1979).
'Uthmanic
p. 38. For the description of the codex see A. The word ibrijmah is probably the same as ibrishmah ot
'Le mushaf signifyingaccordingto Dozy glue (vol. l. p.2 and
DessusLamare, de la mosquede Cordoue et pari,shmah
s o n m o b i l i e r m c a n i q u e ' ,J o u r n a l A s i a t i q u e ,2 3 0 ( 1 9 3 8 ) , 12). Cf. also the word ahreh, white bread (Dozy. vol. l.
pp.551-575. p. 2.). For comparisonwith other bookbinding adhesivessee
See the preface to KftAb al-tayst. G. Bosch et al.. Islamic hindings.pp.50-51.
1 The manuscript which served as the basis for the tB Ka1'kata.iis a corruption of kahtko.l(seemy 'The use
p r i n t e d e d i t i o n w a s d i s c o v e r e di n a l - M a k t a b a ha l - m m a h . of 'kahrka.i' in Arabic manuscripts'. Manust'ripts o lhe
in Tetuan (Morocco). Mddle East. l. 1986.pp.49-53 and James W. Pollock.
8 It is interestingto note here two other words used for 'Kabi :kaj to book pouches:library preservationmagic and
the envelope flap raddah. like marii' conveying the idea of t e c h n i q u ei n S y r i a o f t h e 1 8 8 0 ' sa n d t h e 1 9 8 0 ' s W e s t ' .
return (seeIbn Jam'ah, Tadhkirat crl-sunr'va-ol-mutakal- M E L A , y ' o 1 en. ro. . 4 4 ( 1 9 8 8 ) .p p . 8 - 1 0 .
lim./ dab ul-'alim h'a-al-mutu'allim.Hyderabad, I 353 4.H., 1 e O n l y a s m a l l n u m b e r o f b o o k b i n d e r ' st o o l s b e a r i n g
p . 1 7 2 ' )a n d m i q l a b( T u r k i s hm i k l e h , l i t .h o e . s e eD . H a l d a n e , the same namesare found in the work of lbn Bdis and al-
'Staffof
Islamic bookbndings n the Victoria and Alhert Museum, Sufyni.For comparisonseeG. Bosch. the scribes',
L o n d o n .1 9 8 3 p. . 2 0 3 ) . pp.2-5 and Islamc hindings, pp.4l-45. Ibn Sidah in his
e Like vajh al-kita, which can mean an upper cover, K i t a b q l - m u k h a s s a(sp t . 4 , p p . 1 0 0 - 1 1 l ) h a s a s e c t i o n o n
front of the textblock, as well as face of a letter, ,sadral- different types of leather (iulud). We find here definitions of
kitab, depending on the context. can mean a preface or dalaka ad hatta.Ibn Sidah.quoting Khahl al-Farhidi and
introductory lines of a letter. The word x'a.jh(also w'a.jhah) is Ibn Durayd respectively.says that dalakq means to soak
also used for a page, not just the recto of a folio. and rub leather and hatta is a synonym of dalaka. Further-
ro There seemsto be some confusion in the work of Ibn more, mihatt is a pieceof wood used for smoothing leather
Bdrs between the verbs habaka, ha:ama and kharama. The or for tooling (huv:a khashabcthyusqal hih al-adtnt an'
sentenceon p. 157 of the Arabic edition reads: al-hahk 1:unqash).
anv,a' fa-minhu ./ mawtli'avn v'u-ghal,ruhuya'ntalu bi-ibra- 20 Al-Sufyn1(op. t:it.. p.9) instructs the binder to mark
tayn ow-thalahahwa-ra'aytulil-Rum shar"anminhu. This is the middle leaf of the quire with the number five in the
a clear referenceto endbandingand not to sewingof quires. ghubar system(al-khamsahal-ghubartvah).
A synonym of habk ts hahkah (Ibn Jam'ah, op. c'it.p. 170; 2r For a discussionon and illustrations of Islamic end-
 n2 M A N U S C R I P T SO F T H E M I D D L E E A S T 5 I 9 9 0 - I 9 9 I )

bands see Monika Gast, 'A history of endbands,based on habk (pl. ahbAk),endbanding;endband (headband)
the study by Karl Jackel', The Nev,bookbinder,3(1983),pp. el-hahk al-dal, trellis-likeendband
54-56 and Jane Greenfield, Headbands,hov. to y;ork them al-habk al-mudalla', chevron endband
( N e w H a v e n , 1 9 8 6 ) ,p p . 6 5 6 9 . al-habk al-shatranjr.chessboard-like endband
22 For the illustration of this kind
of binding see G. hadtd (pl. hada'iQ, pieceof metal; small tool for rooling
Margais and L. Poinssot, Objets kairouanais, IXe au XIIIe l.rajur a l-hurkar. pumice
sicles(Tunis, 1948),p. l4 and T.C. Petersen,'Early Islamic hajar al-misann,whetstone
bookbindings and their Coptic relations', Ars Orientalis, I harrr, silk thread
(1954)p , . 4 4 . S e ea l s om y ' S i j i l l ' ( o p .c i r . ) .W e s t i l l n e e de x r r a hashw al-udhn. area between nrrcth and tabilt
evidence to prove conclusively that this type of binding hikayat al-dirs, pattern of interlacings
really did exist. ibrah. needle
2 3 V o l . 2 . p . 1 5 2 0a n d v o l . l , p . 7 3 7 , r e s p e c t i v e l y .
ihrijmah (ibr ishntah). fl our, farina
2a To our knowledge,the only
study on bindings of the dharah(pl. adabrr),number of gatherings;textblock
Almohad period has been carried out by prosper Ricard. ifsanttn, seeaf'sint tn
See his two articles: 'Reliures marocainesdu XIIIe siecle. ina', receptical,pot
notes sur des spcimensd'poque et de tradition almoha- shJa,awl, punch
des', Hesprir, 17 (1933), pp.109-127 and 'Sur un type de
7ar.r;,walnut
reliure des temps almohades'.Ars Islamca,I (1934), pp.74- jld (pl. jutuA,leather
79. Both articles contain illustrations of the original bind- jirm (pl. ajram), size, format
ings and drawings of various individual elementsof which ji.s.r.gypsum, plaster
the decorationwas composed.Al-Ishbrh givesus an extraor- kaghad. paper
dinary range of small tools for a vegetaldesign(tawrq).Itis kay'kataj,word used as invocation against \vorms
difficult at this stageto work out with confidencetheir exact khq/J,thick needle(?) (referredto bv its oppositc)
meanings.For a generalstudy on the subjectseeE. Krihnel, khall. vinegar
The Arabesque,meanngand rransf'ormationof an ornantenl, khatm (pl. khat'attm). stamp
t r a n s l .b y R . E t t i n g h a u s e n( G r a z . n . d . ) . k h a t i m m t t r a b h a ' s. q u a r es t a m p .m e d a l l i o n
2s Misr means red clay (al-ttn al-altnur).
hence al- k hat i nt ntusacldas. hera-sonalstamp. medallion
'usfitr
tnumossor.dyed with ntisr. Misroh is (safl1ower)(see k hc7t i nt mut hanmkln. octagonal stamp. ntedallion
Ahmad Taymlr Bsh. al-Movsu'uh al-Tal.nt[jrt].ahntin khort (pl. khu.rur).thread
kunu: al-'Arab ./i al-lughah v'a-ol-.fhnnt.a-al-adoh. Cairo. klru::, sllk
1 9 6 1p. . 1 6 4 ) . khirqah, cloth
2 The exact wording is 'rla-rtinh
an takun ol-ksv.ah khubbaza,malva arborea
mu'adilah ma'a al-kita'. This appears to be contrary to kisw'ah,covering of the boards
what really is one of the characteristicsof Islamic bindines. kilAb @1.kutub), paper codex: rextblock
al-ktah al-mukarras,codex consistingof quires
kurah min khashab,wooden ball used as a burnisher
GLOSSARY OF TECHNICAL TERMS USED IN XrcN EI-TEYSIN kurrasah(pl. kararts),gathering.quire
lan'h, wooden board
adah Ql. adau'arl.tool. implemenr lawz, part of a clasp (?)
aJsnttn, absinthe,wormwood lay':ah (pl. lav,zat),almond-shapedmedallion (mandorla)
'alqam,
colocynth lamlunqh,small tool resemblingan elephant'stusk (?)
arz. cedar mA . waler
bahr (pl. buhur), cartouche;panel al-ma' al-'odhh.fresh water
baqqam, brazilwood al-nta' al-:u'aq. unpotable water
bashr, paring ma/tul. leather thong for endbanding
batin (pl. bawatin),inner side ma'un (pl. mawa'tn'),bookbinder's tool. implement
hatin al-sifr 1al-kitah'1,inner cover nta.jma'(pl.majamt), box for implements
bayd" eggs malasah(?), polisher
havt (pl. buyut), compartment in interlacing; frame marj. type of darnel
bitanah(pl. bata'n).lining; doublure; basan midlaf, chisel (?)
dAbir (pl. dav'abit), compass midlak, burnisher for doublures
dafrah, gouge midrabah.stalk (?)
da'irah (pl. dawa'ir), circle; circular stamp serving as a mihqt, lracer
centrepieceor medallion mijwab, cutter for gold leaf
daqtq ahmar, brown (?) flour milzam (pl. malazim), press
darmak, quality flour, farina mimlasah,plane-likeinstrument
drs (pl. adra), pallet; interlace minshar, saw
duhn, oll, grease miqaddah,crescent-shaped trimming knife
ghira' (pl. aghriyah),paste,adhesive miqrad, shears
al-ghira' al-mashub,paste prepared by cooking the main mqta', instrument for ixing and removing decorationfrom
ingredientwith the infusion of absinthe.colocynth or covers
aloe mirba'qh, stalk ?
ghisha' (pl. aghshi.valr), case;cover(ing) misann seehajar al-misann
 A D A M G A C E K .A R A B I C B O O K M A K I N G A N D T E R M I N O L O G Y l13

mish'ar, tendril (?) shidq (pl. ashdaq),cover; casing

mishtab,duster, whisk (?) safr(pl. a;far), paper codex; texrblock; volume
misqalah.polisher sikkrn. trimming knife
misrah,safflower sila/r,small connectingtool (cf. al-ton'tl)
mistaruh (pl. masatrr). ruler. straight edge; rulings on the silslah, pattern of interlace (chainwork) used in a frame
page ( h a yt )
mithqab.drill for making holes in boards when endbanding sul/ah, soft leather
ntitruqah.mallet tAhi' (p1. tav,ahi), small tool for tooling
ntu'allaqah (pl. ntu'allaqAl). piece of parchment used for tabut (pl. tat'abt), bor; chest; pentagonalframe
lining the spine tab.v'tt.creatingcompartmentsand frames
ntuqaddant,fore-edge; fore-edge flap tadbrr. assembling textblock
ntusaffir. binder ta;ct\, aligning quir.t
mushaf(pl. masahfl. parchment codex; textblock n/t. argil, potrer's clay
al-musha/al-mulav'v'ah,parchmentcodex bound in wooden tuhhtk, endbanding with silk thread
boards t u k t t l i d .s h a v i n g .r i i m m i n g
al-musha.fal-s/i'r, paper codex bound in paste-boards takhtl, pallet-like implement for outlining
nashan,wheat starch r.r1. wooden pr.rring boarcls
naqsh,tooling: engraving takh:rnr, ser.l ing
nuqtuh. do tAquh(pl. fiq1r\. sheerof paper
qa/n (pl. ac/rali). spine.back taqbrh.rounding the spine
qctfanmuqabbab.round back (spine) taq/itah, backing
qafan ntusatah. la back (spine) rcrtq (pl. turuq), fillet
qolam (pl. aqlant).pieceof wood for making boxesfor tools tarklb, mounting leather
qAlih (pl. qax'alih).form: formar tas/ir. binding
qanrhah,tool resemblinga wheat grain al-tasr al-misrt, Egyptian binding characterised by
qdnfin,trapezium-likeinstrument for creating compartments having a mandorla (tctvzah) as central decoration
qartahun.square(instrument) tashbtk,endbandingwith an ordinary thread (khat't)
al-qati't'a-al-ntaqti'.'the cutting and the cut', principle of tasx'1'oh, aligning quires: trimming. shaving
interlace(dirs) tutrrq. pounding the spine with a mallet
qirab (pl. aqribah),sleeve-case; box r,lrr7. sn.rall.long pallet (cf. ut-stah)
al-qirab al-mahnt,caserboxbuilt around a form thuqtl seeul-khdi/'
al-qirah al-makhru:, sewn case tu-trroh.calice.palmette ('1.)
qubtul (pl. qabatt),ruler. straight edge turrah (pl. turar). margin: border: egde: turn-in
r a h ' a h( p | . r a b a ' a t ) .c o p l ' o f t h e Q u r ' a n : b o r . c h e s t u d h n( p l . a d h n ) .f l a p . e n i e l o p el l a p
'uqdah,
rcTji'(pl. rau'aji). strip of leather br lining the spine knot (tool)
'urv'ah 'uran).
raqq. parchment (pl. thong. leather fastener(part of a clasp)
'ushar,
rn s (pl. rliTs). head stampwith vegetaldesign;tool usedfor the application
ru's al-kith. head of the book of gold
ra's ol-misraralt, top line of the page v,ajh (.p1.v'ujuh). face, outer side
rtrkhamah.marble slab v'ajh al-kitab, outer cover; front of the textblock
rukn (pl. orkan), corner; corner-piece waraqah,leaf (folio); vine leaf
ruq'ah. pieceof leather zaJaran, saffron
sahir (scthr),aloe zahr al-qalabhaq. lool resembling the back (carapace) of a
sudr ul-kith. fore-edge:lore-edgeflap tortoise
safqt, tool resemblinga basket (?) zamm. thong for tying up a book
sahah.slab for tooling -anj (pl. a:ua.j). bi-folio, conjugateleaf
shahm al-mar.j,pulp of darnel :at,t. oil
sham', wax zirr (pl. a:rrah). knob (part of a clasp)