Kashf al-Zunun 'an Asami al-Kutub wa al-Funun
AuthorKâtip Çelebi
Original titleكشف الظنون عن أسامي الكتب والفنون
LanguageArabic, Latin, French
GenreBibliographic-encyclopedia
OCLC469358915

Kashf al-Zunun 'an Asami al-Kutub wa al-Funun (The Removal of Doubt from the Names of Books and the Arts) is a bibliographic encyclopedia of books and sciences compiled by Turkish polymath Kâtip Çelebi. It was written in Arabic and was based on the Miftāḥ al-Saʿāda wa-miṣbāḥ al-Siyādah[n 1] by the c.16th Ottoman historian, Taşköprüzade. However the Kaşf substantially enlarges it, cataloging titles of approximately 15,000 books; 9,500 names of authors; and 300 sciences and arts. The work is seen as a significant example of and contribution to Ottoman historiography.[1][2][3]

At the age of twenty-five in 1633, while in Aleppo, Celebi began compiling and composing the work; it occupied him for the next twenty years until its completion in 1652. An account of this is contained in another of his widely read books, "Mizan al-Haq," where he writes:

"On my stay in Aleppo, I would visit bookshops to browse, and then when I had returned to Istanbul and came into some money, I began acquiring books and letters. In 1638, a relative died and left me a more substantial legacy, which was spent in large part collecting the great works which I had seen in Aleppo, Istanbul and in the public repositories of the Sultanate of Oman".[n 2]

Celebi died suddenly in 1657, leaving many works in unfinished or draft form.[4]

Contents

Editions

  • Muhammad Azti Effendi Boshnah Zadeh (d. 1681).
  • Ibrahīm al-Rūmi al-Arabji (d. 1775) mentioned by Khalil al-Muradi in his biographic dictionary Silk al-Durar (Arabic).
  • Ahmed Hanífzádeh, Mollae El-Hájj Ibrahím Haníf Efendi, ed., (حنيف زاده) (d.1802) titled (Athārnū) (اثارنو). Contains 5000 books. Appended by Flügel in Vol.VI, Leipzig edition (1835–1858) with Latin translation and a volume for Oriental libraries. [n 3] [n 4]
  • Sheikh Islam Aref Hikmat, ed., (d.1858) up to the letter jím (c). (See Al-Arab Al-Arab 2: 897).
  • Ishmael Pasha al-Baghdadi, ed., (d.1921), titled The Explanation of the Makenun. Contains 19000 books and was followed by translations of the authors (1941).
  • Ismail Saeb Singer, ed.
  • Jamil al-‘Uẓmā (جميل العظم) ('The Great Beauty') (1933), titled al-Sirr al-Maṣūn (السر المصون -خ) ('Well-kept Secret' - kh) with introduction (1000 page) titled Book of Science and Travel (الإسفار عن العلوم والأسفار).
  • Mohammed Al-Sadiq Al-Nefir (1938), titled Salwa Al-Mahzun.
  • Muhammad bin Mustafa al-Bakri ed., (d. 1782), Khulāsat Tahqíq az-Zunūn (خلاصة تحقيق الظنون)('Investigation of Suspicions, abridged'); Index to al-Kashf and amendments.
  • Ali Khairi, ed., (d.1909) Ḍiyā’ al-‘Aiūn (ضياء العيون) (Illumination of the Eminent); a footnote to al-Kashf.
  • Sources of Andalusian heritage: the publications of the Cultural Center in Abu Dhabi, pitfalls of correcting Haji Khalifa in dealing with the heritage of Andalusia.
  • Abridgement and supplement; Hussein Abbasi Nabhani Halabi, ed., (d.1684), titled ('The Complete Memorial of Antiquities').

Translations

Notes

  1. ↑ Miftāḥ al-Saʿāda wa-miṣbāḥ al-Siyādah (مفتاح السعادة ومصباح السيادة في موضوعات العلوم} loosely translates: 'The Key to Happiness and the Lamp of Lordship'.
  2. ↑ Catalogue reprinted in Bulaq copy of printed edition of the Turkish Information Agency in (1941-1943), published in several volumes and editions.
  3. ↑ Aḥmad Ḥanīf-Zādah. (اثارنو) Nova Opera ab Ahmed Hanifzádeh ad continuandum Haji Khalfae Lexicon Bibliographicum collecta et ad ordinem literarum disposita… Edidit G. Fluegel. [With a Latin translation.] 1852 – London.- Oriental Translation Fund of Great Britain and Ireland. Muṣṭafā ibn Allāh, called Kātib Chelebī or Ḥajī Khalfah. Lexicon Bibliographicum, etc. tom. 6. 1835 etc. 4o. 14003.g.3. and 15000.e.1.
  4. ↑ Catalogue of Arabic books in the British Museum by British Museum. Dept. of Oriental Printed Books and Manuscripts; W.W. Elliott & Co; Fulton, A. S. (Alexander Strathern) 1894. Catalogue of Arabic books in the British Museum, p.208

References

  1. ↑ Gömbeyaz, Kadir. "Çelebi, Kâtip." In The Oxford Encyclopedia of Islam and Politics. Oxford University Press, 2014.
  2. ↑ "Fihrist." In The Oxford Dictionary of Islam, edited by Esposito, John L.. Oxford University Press, 2003.
  3. ↑ Hammond, Marlé. "manāqib." In A Dictionary of Arabic Literary Terms and Devices. Oxford University Press, 2018.
  4. ↑ Gömbeyaz, Kadir. "Çelebi, Kâtip." In The Oxford Encyclopedia of Islam and Politics. Oxford University Press, 2014.
  5. ↑ Katib Jelebi 1835.
  6. ↑ Haji Khalfah 1777.
  7. ↑ d'Herbelot 1777.

Bibliography

  • Kashf Aa Zunun. Bayrūt: Dār al-Kutub al-ʻIlmīyah. 2008. ISBN 978-2745155009.
  • Hājī Khalfah (1892). Kashf al-ẓunūn. Vol. 2. Dersa'ādet Ḥasan Ḥilmī el-kütübī.
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