Thepaperinthisbookmeetstheguidelines.forpermanenle.anl|durabilityo|the on Library Co.r,àitt.. on Production Guidelinei for Book Longevity of the Council Brockelmann's Geschichterevisited Rcsources. by Jan Just Witkam

Coverillustration:f.486fromaMS.(or.2B9'dated_475aH./l0B3eo)ofLegatum Topics: Brockelmann's GAL. A word about the author. The aims of Arabic ritaua-ni.r,á;i;h ty r*."**:":i:,"ór"::,,1f#,i3:ilJ.:'**'o Library, bibliography. Updating and reprinting GAL. A guide for the modern user of GAL.

Brockelmann's GAL Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Brockelmann,- - Carl, l868-1956. In 1898 and 1902, the publishing house of E. Felber produced Geschichie dei arabischcn Litterarur (GAL) / von carl Brockelmann ; erw. um ein Vorwort vonJanJust Witkam' two volumes entitled Geschichte der Arabischen Litteratur p. cm' (GAL). The author Carl Brockelmann(1868-1956) was a young OriIna[v published: Leiden : EJ' Brill, 1943' With new introd' IncËdes biblographical referencesand indcxes' German university teacher from Breslau (now Wroczlaw in - (sct: iSSN gOO+rOs?Oá1vot. I : alk. paper). ISBN 9004104070 Poland). His objective was to outline the external history of alk. papcr) Arabic literature, excluding all internal developments. He had f . hàUi'c literaturc-History and criticism' I' Title' PI7sl0.B7 1996 estimated then that it would take at least a further century of Bb2'.709-dc2o 95-52741 CIP hard philological work before even the most important landmarks of Arabic literature would be known and accessible (I, p. iii). It is a sobering thought that a century has indeed Die Deutsche Bibliothek - ClP-Einheitsaufirahrne passed without Brockelmann's expectations being realized. Brockelrnann, Carl: Brockelmann restricted his Geschichteto the surviving works of ó.r.fti.ttt" der arabischen Litteratur (GAL) / von Carl Brockelmann. - kiden ; New York ; Ki;ln : Brill' authors. Had he added the titles of those works that are only ISBNjNuitrar. 9G 04 10407-0 known from references and quotations, the size of his GÁL sd-T. / erw. um ein Vorw. vonJanJust Witkam. - 1996 would easily have doubled. ISBN 90-04-10s46-8 The basic idea of GAL was to provide a framework which divided Arabic literature into periods and subjects and then to ISBN 90 04 10546B add to this structure using information extracted from ISBN 90 04 104070 (.reÍ) manuscript catalogues and bibliographies concerning extant texts, and subsequently to add supplementary information on Vol. I @ 1943by EJ Brill;Vol' II @ 1949bv 9JtBdl . - the authorsfrom the biographicaldictionaries. 1942by E'| Brill Srrpplt:tncntsI O 1937by EJ.'BriÍ; il O l93Bby EJ' Brill; il @ The first volume of GAL treated the classicalperiod up to (ó L:oplnghtt996 fu EJ. Bntl, Iziden'7tu Jttethnlanls 1258 (the fall of Baghdad to the Mongol armies), while the storedm second volume contained an account of Arabic literature .,lll r4ltt.t rcrmted. No parl of íhi.spublicalionma\ be reproduced,natslnkd, a rdrintal slslent, or transmittedin an1form or b1 an2 mcatLs.'elzctrlnu' produced in what Brockelmann styled as the age of decline. wiÍhout untten ntrrlutnirtil, lthoktt:olt-yitg,recording or olhmaise, ltnor This age Brockelmann divided into three periods,firstly up to lrnrtilsion fton lhc Puhlitm. thc Ottornarnconquest of Egypt (1517), then up to the Napo- lrt tlrntt nlnnrtl rt lnvnrt! "lttllttnt:ttlrrtt ltltttlrttrtltl'-/ fu rttr tt llrtnln! l"- I" llrtl! lntn'uhtl lht! (tltv'trlihr lltr ttltlnrlnrtilr frrr 'ut ltrntl lnt'lb h' llr ( lrtiltt,ttr( rnln. )'"''' ll"vtr"ul Ihtr"\utk')Il) l\mn, ,\t,'l111'17;, It.\.1 I'ur tttt uthln I lil | lutt1:r llli{l|llllrliilllilllllllllllllllllllllllll1],iillóilll$*,;J,.r.,i;Á*'*";-"-;;'""*'"'

BROCKELMANN'S GESCHICHTEREVISITED VII VI PREFACE the present daV A word about the author leonic conquest (1798) and, finally, up to (tfe1 a geographical igyZl Wlitrin each section theie ii usually according to subject' Carl Brockelmann was born into a middle-class commercial ài"i.íot first, which is then subdivided published forty milieu in , , on 17 September 1868 as the This division was used for the secondedition, fourth child in a family of six. At secondaryschool he was keen years later, as well. 'Litteratur' understood to devote himself to foreign studies. It was the period of the In using the term Brockelmann all verbal utterances of great discoveries and the carving-up of the world by the colonial literature in the broadest sense,that is' scopeof this subjectto powers, with which the newly-founded German empire had ,t " tu** mind, and refusedto limit the Arabic has joined ranks. The geographical journals and accounts of ;U"tt", lettres'. His main justification was that iurt has discoveries in far-away regions of Asia and Africa were the of thought over a long period of time and teen the vehicle young romantic fantasies on the all of which he wished to include source of Brockelmann's covered an enorrnousterátory, this, another word for Orient. The German language has one compact word for in his GAL. The German language has thaj. t: Fernweh, the longing for distant places. The fact that quite a in that broad sense, 'Scy''rifrmm' anything literature number of Rostockians, including his family's friends and There were two fields' however' which ,!"o.4*A in writing. had spread over the world only served to widen from his survey' namely'-the acquaintances, g.o"L"t**n mainly excluded young must have thesedid not address the youngster's cultural horizon. The Carl óttrirti* and Jewish Arabic literatures'as own been quite a prodigy. As a pupil of the secondaryschool he Islamic audience, but only addressedtheir the wider devised grammars for the Bantu language of Angola and the circles' limited denominational biblical Aramaic language. As a youth he hesitatedbetween the much the work of a confidentyouth' Nowadays GALisvery careers of missionary, medical doctor and dragoman start such a project since the no individual would dare to of bringing him too large for one professionswhich had the common advantage number of sourcesto be surveyedis simply was into direct contact with exotic peoples.But they proved to be hundred years ago the number of sources lifetime. But a daydreams,nor were his grammars ever published, of course, a mere thirty-four manuscnpt ii*t,"a. Then there were grateful he never pursued these and make extracts and Brockelmann was later that "uáiogu", which Brockelmann had to peruse collections in options. These catalÀguesdescribed the major from. in Brockelmann's university career,first as studentand later as and Istanbul' The European catalogues il;;p", Nonft-nftl"i a professor,was unimpressive.It was rather his wide scholarly wealth of information both on the contents ;;i;i". offered a - interests,his incredible memory and the enormousenergy with The best of thesecatalogues of the texts and on their authors' made him an outstanding - just completed by a which he pursuedhis goals,that have which remains unsurpassed was being monumental figure even today. In 1886 he enrolled as a studentof Oriental compatriot of Brockelmann' It is the ten-volume When studiesand classicalphilology and history at the University of of the collection by Wilhelm Ahlwardt' ""ioiogu" in Rostock.In spring 1887 he moved to the University of Breslau, of information on texts and authors one sees the detail and a year later he moved again, this time to Strasbourgin order one understandswhy this work.wT Ahlwardt's work, the to complete his studies with the most famous German to found his GAL' But the Berlin pcrÍ-ccthasis for Brockelmann Orientalistof his time, Theodor Nóldeke (1836-1930).In the nleansan isolatedeffon' The detailed cittitl,lgtrcwas by no course of these scholarly wanderings, young Brockelmann collcctionsas the BritishMuseurn and cirtltloltrcsr.rl'such vast vigorously studied classical philology (Latin and Greek), thcllibliothi'tltteNittionitlc,anclthcrnetJium-sizedcollectionsoÍ- Accadian, Arabic, Ethiopian, Hebrew, Turkish, Persian, ('rrrrrbritlgc.(iothit, ['cidcn' Algiers'ctc ' rlrt'list.oriirl. ilxlirrtl, Srrnskrit,Arrncnian, Egyptian and Indo-Germanicstudies - and Itr1,'t.tltt.tllrtlvitlctltllclttltlcriitlItlrI}rtlckcllttitttttt()llscirlhrs tht'list is pnrbrrblyÍ'itr Í'rottt cotttplctc:. ['lc cngagcdin classical (;Al BROCKELMANN'SGESCHICHTEREVISITED IX VIII PREFACE was obliged to step down because of the vehement attacks on philologyasaSortoflifeinsurance,shouldhebeunabletofind his views on academic liberty by the Nazi press. In 1937 he u;ouin,o.ientalstudies.Butapartfromashortperiod(1890- protestant in moved back to , where he was able to use the library of the idqz) u. an assistant_teacherin the Gymnasium German Oriental Society (DMG) for the completion of the new Sourtootg, Brockelmann was always employed in academic edition he wished to publish of his GAL. Between 1937-1942 positions."In1890 he had defendedhis inauguraldoctoral thesis, Kamil the three supplementary volumes came out, and these were in St asbourg on the relationship between Ibn al-Athir's followed in 1943-1949 by the publication of an updated version the Germanuniversity systemit was' and al-Tabari'sTa'rlkh.In of the original two volumes. In 1945 he was destitute and he it, normal to write two doctoraltheses, the inauguralthesis' uná took up the librarianship of the DMG. In this job he was able to a courseof study, and the habilitation thesis' which 'evacuated' completing return most of the books to their rightful place. In the load to a professoiship' ln 1892 he returned to Breslau op"n, 1947 he was appointed honorary professor for Turkish studies a private univeriity teacher. This was basically an unpaid ai in Halle (which was now in the Russian zone, later the German poritàr,, but Brockelmann'sparticipation in projects such as E' ^sachau's Democratic Republic), and in 1953 he retired once more, at the edition of Ibn Sa'd's Tabaqat, and other activities' age of 85. He died in his sleepon 6 May 1956in Halle. him a living' In 1893 he defendedhis mainly teaching,'earned Brockelmann has left us an autobiographical account, which theiis which containeda study on Ibn al-Jawzi's habiliiation he wrote in the course of 1947 for his son Carl, after the latter ahl at-Áthar Mukhtasar al-siyar wa-al-akhbar. iatqth fuhum fi was reportedto have survived Soviet captivity at Stalingradin he made a journey to Istanbul, stopping in tn iggS-tS96 1943. Johann Ftick has used this account for his two In and Paris. In 1900 hè was appointed to the Institute of London Memoriams, and large parts of it have been published by Rudolf Oriental Languagesin Berlin, but not for long' From 1900-1903 1903 Sellheim - but the text, valuable as it is, was for private use only he occupiedihe extra-ordinariatechair in Breslau' and in and clearly not intended for publication. When one first reads he was appointedas ordinariusin Kónigsberg,now Kaliningrad Brockelmann's invariably disgusted remarks on the Jewish in Russià,where he stayeduntil 1910' Next, he was appointed as scholars he had met and experienced,it is as if a hard-core Nazi in Halle an der Saalewhere he stayed llntil1922' It was there' is speaking. But Brockelmann was far too intelligent to indulge rector of the university, that he experienced the chaotic in simple antisemitic bragging. Being primarily an academic,he aftermath of the Great War and saw the German emprre would have defended academic liberties against attack from any disintegrate and change into an unstable republic with-the 1e9{s quarter, fascist and communist alike. However, when the Nazis of disister already uitiUt". It was also the pinnacle 9f fis took power in Germany in 1933, he was in the comfortable scholarly activitiei. In at least four specializedfields, Syriac position of being already 65 years old and was soon to retire. He srudies,Arabic studies,semitic linguistics and Turkish studies, survived the war as a private scholar, and was never his name had become famous throughout the world' But as compromised in any official capacity before, during or after the authorofGALhewastoeameternalfame.From|922-|923he war. took an appointmentin Berlin, but this proved to be a bad move' the He "a*è into conflict with the minister of culrure' The aims of Arabic bibliography Islamologist C.H. Becker, who was to take the Berlin profersoÁhip to provide himself with an emergencyexit from Arabic literature by its very nature presents a problem of politics.Brockelmann never forgave him, and calledhim in the bibliographical control. It is as yet impossible to make even a of his (iÁ1., among other things' the minister ag'ainst 1',rcf-acc rough estimateof how many works were written in Arabic by so ti".,,t,,ucttllttrc. Brockclrnann was lucky to be ableto returnto tn rnany prolil-ic authors over a period of some fourteencenturies lltt.rrnivcrsilyol'llrcsltrtt. whcre hc slitycdtrrltil his rclirclltcnl brrt hc irr lrn rrre:irrarrging frorn China to deepestAfrica and from It) \5 Irr l,ti-l lrr. hirrl lrt'r'0lttc rt'clor oÍ' lltt' trttivcrsity. BROCKELMANN'SGESCHICHTEREVISITED XI X PREFACE Arabic literature too is relatively little known. An additional MoroccotothePhilippines,letalonetofullyestablishthelinks complication is that the Arabic literature of these areascan only L"r*""r, those worlis. ''n" vast scope of Islamic manuscript the be put into true perspective if their complementary indigenous literature was only recently bibliographically defined for literary tradition is taken into account as well. For the time ever. The World Survey of Islamic Manuscripts first bibliographerthis posesadditional, linguistic, problems. (Leiden|gg2-|994)hasprovideduswithaninsightintothe Arabic traditional literature is probably the largest body of potential of Islamic literatures,of which Arabic is the ào*o.r, literature in the world. Incorporating all new bio-bibliographical component. The development of our leaming is also áujoi information in one large database would be of prime visible. By the middle of the seventeenthcentury the "f"*fy importance. It has been tried, but so far it has failed. It could Hájji Khalifa (d' 1657) gave Turkish bibliographer 1n ?c-count never be the work of one man, but at best a dedicatedinstitution of AràUic literature' His Kashf al-7unun of his knowledgè with large and long-term funds might be able to perform that I5,0O0 titles by about 9,500 authors' This is contains ,o*" task. the same proportion that one encounters in approximately Brockelmann's GAL, now half a century old, still standsout s GAL: the index in the third supplementary BËckelmann as the only successfulcomprehensive attempt at bibliographical was published in 1942, contains some 25'000 volume, which control of the vast body of Arabic literature. Arabic àuthors. If the data contained in the titles and 18,000 bibliography must move forward, and this is happening, as can mentioned in World Survey were to be bibliographical sources be witnessed by the numerous bibliographical surveys on be an increase of many times the added to GAL, there would specific subjects and areas and by the veritable boom of authors and there would be many original number of titles and manuscript catalogues.GAL is still a safe point of departure for to the references already known' adàitions of manuscripts most of the bibliographicalwork that lies ahead. wóuld prove to be not so unique after all' Uniq.t" manuscripts One recent instance of creative use of GÁL should be fifty years ago were thought to be preserved in and iexts which mentioned here. Some 1690 titles taken from the title-index of few manusóriptswould prove to exist in abundance' relatively the third supplementary volume of GAL were the source consid"rubl" result of reviewing the data of World But the most material for A.A. Ambros for an enlightening analysis of the SurlleywouldbeourincreasedknowledgeofArabicliteratureas composition and function of rhyming titles in classicalArabic periphery of the Arab world and' even more produced'important, on the literature. It shows that GAL, apart from its obvious use as a from titamic countries outside the Arab world' that bibliographical reference work, has more in store than probably volume to GAL' Brockelmann In the third supplementary even the author himself was aware of. attempt to describe the modern made a quite suóiessful In many libraries all over the world copies of GAL are in use Arab world. An up-date of this covering the literatures if tn" that contain numerous handwritten additions of generations of would result in a referente work of unheard of past fifty years learned librarians and other users. Brockelmann's own fact, such an endeavorhas not been attempted àim"nriór,s. In interleaved copy, which he constantly updated until shortly the larger literatures of the modern age' for any of beforehis death,lies in the library of the DMG in Halle. This is compiled the final version of GAL' the When Brockelmann certainly not the only copy with extensive glosses;there must of peripheral areas such as Mauritania' manuscript treasures be at least a hundred copies of similar importance.It would be had barely been explored' The extent Morocco anclthe Yemen, interesting to make a survey of those copies including the Sub-SaharanAfrica, East Turkestan'the ol'Arabic literaturein remarks and corrections of leamed librarians, and to make an maintandand Indonesiais' rr:stof China, South-EastAsia's bibliographical has attempt to incorporate that cumulated t,venlodlry. irlrrrost ir cktscclbook. Thc Intliirnstrhcrlnlinent ol knowlcclgeinttl it nrodcrndatabasc. lrlrrlits own r'ottlrihttliottfo Arirhicliterlrttrrt'. lltrt thirt britnch :=*Jr I

BROCKELMANN'SGESCHICHTEREVISITED XIII XII PREFACE work that, for many years, one could only procure through the and reprinting GAL UPdating antiquarian book trade, if at all. Later on, it was also Felber who hindered the publication of a new edition, since he had so much always wanted to publish an updated carl Brockelmann had old stock left. Recourse to juridical action by Brockelmann was of GAL. Alongside his numerous reprint of the first edition to no avail. The German copyright law apparently could not be and corrections in his otïrer activities he had recorded additions applied. The book was considereda commodity that, once sold, 1898-1902.That first edition interleavedcopy -by of the edition of transferred ownership. The author, who in such a situation was publisher in Weimar and was published e. Felber, a small considered to be the former owner, could never again exercise a publish Brockelmann's edition laterln Berlin. ft" nua agreedto right to his work. The only way to regain the rights on the book '(Jyiln on the condition that he of Ibn Qutayba's al-Akhbar was if someone was to buy the entire remaining stock. During by Brockelmann would have the right to publish another work Felber's lifetime this proved to be impossible, and also after than Ibn which would yÈta him more profit Qutayba' Felber's death the successors to his estate asked such an GAL, a project about Brockelmann agreed and offered him his extravagant price for the remaining copies of GAL that this whichhehadalreadybeenthinkingforquiteawhile.This possibility proved to be impractical. for generations decision would have iar-reaching consequences Brockelmann then found the director of Brill's of Leiden, proved to be a crook and of studentsof Arabic literature. Felber Mr. Th. Folkers, ready to publish the additional data in three victim' When the Brockelmann was not his first and only supplementary volumes, which appearedbetween 1937-1942. ln first volume of Ibn typesetting and printing of half of the order to maintain the connection between the original two work was stoppedand Qutayba's"texthád been completed,the volumes and the three supplements, the page-numbers of the re-emergedand fulfilled fl"mé. disappeared.Some time later he original edition were constantly referred to. At the end of each form, restricting the his engagóÀ"ntt albeit in a reduced supplementary volume, additions and corrections to the original Brockelmann had had ten publicaiio=nto four volumes, whereas edition were included. The indexesin the third supplementhad to pay if he wanted volumes in mind. Brockelmannwas forced referencesto both the original two volumes of 1898-1902 and appeaseBrockelmann's the work to proceed,a classictrick' To the three newly publishedsupplements. a typewriter, his first' anger for a while Felber gave him It was only after the publication of the third supplementary which in the BÀckelmann grudgingly accepted it. GAL, volume that it becamepossible for Brill's to acquirethe rights to finance the contract with Felber was Brockelmann'ssubsidy to the original work. Then nothing stood in the way of an simultaneously Ibn Qutayba edition, was printed more or less updatedsecond edition of the two original volumes.With ample one thousand with ihe ibn qutayba edition, but insteadof the referenceto the supplementary volumes these were published in had three copies which he was allowed to produce, Felber 1943-1949. in for himself on thóusand copies printed, thereby cashing .a The pagination of the first edition of GAL had been the thousand copies is possible sectnd ànd third edition. Three source of referencefor the supplementary volumes and they had publication where print quite exceptional for any Orientalist been included in the indexes of the supplements.Now, in the copies' But there was Àns usually do not exceeda few hundred new edition of the two original volumes, it was to be that same, involuntary peregrina- more mishàp to come. During several old, paginationthat would be used.This is why the new edition run from his creditorsand tions,F'elbei(*tto was alwayson the o[ the two original volumes has the page-numbersof the first the printed sheetsof about authors)had lost part of his stock, cdition retainedin the margins.And it is to thosemarginal page copiesof GAI' hirlÍ-

GESCHICHTEREVISITED XVII xvI PREFACE BROCKELMANN'S JohannFUck,'Carl Brockelmann (1868-195ó)', in;ZDMG 108(1958), l-13. A.F.L. Beeston lucidly explains study on Arabic nomenclature, Geoffrey Roper (ed.), World Sumey of Islamic Manuscripts.4 volumes. it is always.a and analyzes its intricacies. For the bibliographer London(Al-Furqan Foundation) 1992-1994. dilemma knowing which name to use for the alphabetization in Rudolf Sellheim,'AutobiographischeAufzeichnungen und Erinnerungenvon his index of personal names.With such complex name,sy-stems Carl Brockelmann,als Manuskriptherausgegeben' (with portrait),in:Oriens (r98r), as Arabic, this becomes a complicated affair. Brockelmann 27-28 r-6s. FuatSezgin, Geschichte des Arabischen Schrifttwns. Vols. l-9. Leiden 1967- the ism, the personal name' Only in very usually chooses for 1984. few cáses does he select the nisba or another element such as kunya,laqab or'urf. Only a few of the best known authors are mentioneá under more than one name in the index, and as a rule the authors have a single mention only. This means that whoever searchesfor an author's name in Brockelmann's indexes, first has to know the ism of that author, and preferably also his patronymic. Only if these are known, can searching under the name of the author be profitable. This implies that, preceding a search in Brockelmann's persons' index, a Èiographical search for a certain author in other sourceshas to be conductedin order to know his isn' Experiencehas shown us that searchingin GAL's title-index for the title of the book, rather than looking for the author, is a far more satisfactory procedure- All complexities of Arabic personal nomenclature suddenly disappear and if the book is mentioned by Brockelmann,it is easily found by the title. It is in fact the màthod usedby the traditionalIslamic bibliographers as well. They, too, have realizedearly on that the title is the only stable and unambiguous information by which a book can be found.

LITERATUREQUOTED IN THEINTRODUCTION

A.A.Ambros,.BeobachtungenZuAuÍbauundFunktionendergereimten klassisch-arabischenBuchtit el', in: WZKM 80 ( I 990)' I 3-57' ArabicLiteratureofAfrica,editedbyJ.o.HunwickandR.S.o'Fahey.Vol.l. The lVritings of Eastem Sudanic Africa to c' 1900, compiled by R'S' O'Fahey. Leiden 1994. A.F.L. Beeston, Arabic Nomenclature.A Summary Guide for Beginners' Oxford 1971. (Weimar Carl Brockclmann, Geschit:hteder Arabischen Litteratur. I 1898) xii,52ttpp; ll (Bcrlin1902) xi' 7l4pp. J0hrrrrnliur.k,'('ilrl Ilrockclmann als Oricntalist', in: wls.rcrtschaftlichc (.ltlli /t,rtsrhrtlt t!t,r Mttt.tin.l.utht,rIlttitt,r.rititt IIul!r'witt(nhtrg Vll/4 (1rp. 'Vcrzcrt'lttttstlt't Si'htrllctt l()5li),ilP ,{57lt75 (wrlh lx)rll;rll), l{(rl fi75. (',rtI lltor l*clttt;tlllts) GE,SCHICHTE DER ARABISC FIE}T LITTE,RATUR (GAr)

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