The main aim of this presentation is to cover the most important features of Arabic manuscript research. By examining the case of the Crimean Ottoman tradition (15th – 18th centuries), the provided approach deals with some textual features of the manuscripts, starting from careful research of the colophons and finishing with the manuscripts stamps and ownership marks. Methods and practices make it possible to develop useful skills for manuscript studies, especially when dealing with first steps like the dating, place of writing, and the establishment of the authorship etc. The presentation focuses on the textual features of the manuscript.

Suggested reading:

• General introduction: Arabic manuscripts, in Alessandro Bausi (ed.): Comparative Oriental Manuscript Studies: An Introduction. xxii, 677 pp. Hamburg: COMSt, 2015, 89-113.

• How to work with colophons: Quiring-Zoche, Rosemarie, “The Colophon in Arabic Manuscripts. A Phenomenon without a Name,” Journal of Islamic Manuscripts, 2013, Volume 4, Issue 1, 49 – 81.

• Examples of how to apply textual research in study of the intellectual networks: Yakubovych M, “Crimean Scholars and the Kadizadeli Tradition in the 18th Century,” The Journal of Ottoman Studies, 2017, Vol. 49, 155-170.