“Islamic manuscripts are often heavily annotated, reflecting the vivid interaction between the user and the text. In this lecture, we will explore the fascinating role of marginal and interlinear annotations in manuscripts of Qur’ānic readings and prophetic traditions, focusing on their historical, textual, and cultural significance. From scribbled classroom notes to carefully placed glosses: These annotations offer valuable insights into the intellectual history of Islam.”
The presentation was part of the lecture series “Let’s Talk about Paratexts” (April 2025 – September 2026), a hybrid series of talks hosted by the Chester Beatty Library in Dublin.
The lecture series is the result of a cooperation between the project cluster Mapping the Margins (Glasgow University, and Templeton Religious Trust) and the Chester Beatty Library, and accompanies the exhibition “Manuscripts & Mind. How we read and respond to the written word” at the Chester Beatty Library.
Mapping the Margins (2024-2026) studies paratexts in different manuscript cultures of religious texts, trying to understand how people understood and perceived these texts in manuscripts. To this end, manuscript experts cooperate with cognitive scientists from the University of Glasgow. The manuscripts examined are all held at the Chester Beatty Library.
Stefanie Brinkmann is consultant in the sub-project “Words upon Words” of Prof. Dr. Asma Hilali (University of Lille). She has analysed a manuscript of al-Baghawī’s Maṣābīḥ al-sunna (Chester Beatty Library, Ms Ar. 4326, dated 642/1245). Asma Hilali’s research is dedicated to Ibn Khālawayh’s Kitāb al-badīʿ fī uṣūl qirā’āt al-Qur’ān (CBL, Ar. 3051). Both manuscripts are shown at the exhibition “Manuscripts & Mind. How we read and respond to the written word”.
Link to the paratext project Mapping the Margins
Das Open Access (Online-)Journal der Sächsischen Akademie der Wissenschaften:
Interdisziplinäres Online Journal für Diffusionstheorie in Kooperation mit der Universität Leipzig: