The Lost Libraries of Tunis : Book Culture of Ḥafṣid Ifrīqiya and Arabic Manuscripts in Europe after the Sack of Tunis (1535)

Abstract

The libraries of Tunis are considered lost since the sack of the city by European armies in 1535. This study reconstructs the original holdings of Tunis’ medieval libraries by bringing together dispersed manuscripts from over 30 library collections worldwide. The outcome is twofold: the book maps the networks of the first European Orientalists and, by doing so, retrieves from oblivion an important piece of North African manuscript culture.