Read more
Brockelmann's Geschichte der arabischen Litteratur offers bio-bibliographic information about works written in Arabic and their authors, with an emphasis on manuscripts from the classical period. This originally multivolume reference work is divided in chronologically organized sections, which are subdivided by literary genre. Individual entries typically consist of a biographical section and a list of the author's works in manuscript and print, with references to secondary literature. The "Brockelmann" is an indispensible research tool for anyone working on the Islamic world in general and the Middle East in particular. For this paperback edition, volume SIII has been subdivided in two volumes, SIII-i containing all additions to the previous volumes, and SIII-ii containing the Indices. All page numbers are identical to Brill's hardback editions.
Report
' Ever since its first publication Brockelmann's Geschichte der arabischen Litteratur has been an essential and very helpful tool of research for serious scholars of Islamic and Arab affairs. '
W. Montgomery Watt, Emeritus Professor, University of Edinburgh.
' It is now nearly a century since the first edition of Brockelmann's GAL was published, and in the intervening period, it has established itself as the essential, premier biobibliographical reference work for Arabic literature ranging from pre-Islamic times to the early twentieth century. It represents a stupendous achievement for one man, and it seems improbable that any one scholar will be able to replace it with an updated survey of similar chronological and regional breadth and such detail. '
C. Edmund Bosworth, Emeritus Professor, University of Manchester.
' En 1968, Rudi Paret écravait à propos de cet opus magnum consacré à la production écrite en langue arabe: "it [...] constitutes a necessary part of the personal library of any Islamic student". Près de trente ans après, il demeure l'un des premiers ouvrages que l'on consulte lors dúne recherche sur les auteurs classiques et post-classiques. '
Claude Gilliot, Université de Provence
' Brockelmanns GAL ist zum unentbehrlichen Hilfsmittel zu allen Fragen der arabischen Literatur und ihrer Geschichte geworden.[...] Für jeden nämlich, der sich ernsthaft mit dieser umfassenden Wissenschaft beschäftigt, wird die GAL auch in Zukunft Ausgangspunkt sein und bleiben. '
Rudolf Sellheim, Emeritus Professor, University of Frankfurt.
