Database for Manuscripts in Arabic Characters
Documentation:
- Add mss collections Cataloguing in Kabikadj consists in the written description and the photographic reproduction of aspects of the mss. Hereafter you find a step by step description of the process.
- Description
- Kabikadj is distributed with some sample manuscripts. If you don't wish to keep them, please delete the entire contens of the folder ../KABKIKADJ/DATA/.
- Cataloging consists in filling out description fields. Their names are by default given in English, but if you wish to choose another language, then change file ../KABKIKADJ/EXTRA/EMPTY/COLLECTION/MS/MS_DATA.JS with ../KABKIKADJ/MS_DATA/[LL]/MS_DATA.JS, where stands for the available languages. This information is given only as a help for cataloging and does not interfere with the language the end user might choose while accessing the database.
- Copy the folder ../KABKIKADJ/EXTRA/EMPTY/COLLECTION/ with all its content into the folder ../KABKIKADJ/DATA/.
- Name the folder COLLECTION by the abbreviation of the collection you are about to catalog, for example LOC for 'Library of the Congress'. The name has to be in capitals and 8 characters long or less, to ensure interoperating system compatibility on CD-ROMs. This folder will contain all the manuscripts that you want to catalogue from that specific collection.
- Inside the newly renamed COLLECTION folder you find the folder MS. Make a copy of it and rename it to the abbreviation that you want to give to the first manuscript to catalog, such as M1. The same rule of length and capitals as above do apply.
Usually the names are well now abbreviations of institutions and shortened shelfmarks, like LOC for The Library of the Congress, DC, USA or ORA22406 for British Library, Or. Add. 22406-22412.
- Repeat the last operation as many times as there are mss to catalog for the given collection. If, for example, you intend to catalog three mss from the Library of the Congress, you will end up with the following folders:
../KABKIKADJ/DATA/LOC/M1/
../KABKIKADJ/DATA/LOC/M2/
../KABKIKADJ/DATA/LOC/M3/
- Each of the above folders contains the file /CATALOG/MS_DATA.JS. In these files you will store the textual description the mss. A descriptor field looks like:
// Name of the collection's folder
Catalog[MsNr][DescripteurNr] = "*";The first line gives the content of the descriptor field and is intended only for the cataloguer. At the end of the second line the asterisk between quoting marks has to be replaced with whatever data you want to provide in that particular field. Leaving this line as it is will give the description (data not catalogued) to the field when the catalogue is consulted by a user. There are rules about what information has to be entered in each descriptor field and what the proper syntax is. These are explained in the Descriptors section below.
- Once you filled all the fields you want to catalogue, save and close the MS_DATA.JS file. While saving you must choose the UTF-8 Unicode format, so that all characters can be displayed.
- After the catalogue files are completed you have to tell Kabikadj about their existence. Open files ../KABKIKADJ/SCRIPT/[LL]/SEARCH.HTM with a text editor (were [LL] stands for all the language folders available in your version of Kabikadj). Search towards the very end of the file, just before function RipeApple() {, the line var TotalMss =. Put after the equal sign the number of manuscript folders contained in ../KABKIKADJ/DATA/ that you want to make available to the users. If for example you have two collections, one with 5 mss, the other with 12 out of which you want to publish only 10, give 15 as total mss number.
Failing to provide this piece of data will not allow you to monitor the status of the loading process (which is what the RipeApple() function is doing).
- Below the line function RipeApple() { you will see a number of lines of the following format:
<script type="text/javascript" src="../../DATA/ [collection name]/ [ms name]/ CATALOG/ MS_DATA.JS"></script><script><!--
RipeApple(); // --></script>
The lines tell Kabikadj where are the mss folders that you wants to publish. If you choose to delete the default samples, them delete these lines. Then append your own data, were [collection name] stands for the name you gave to the folders containing the catalogued collections and [ms name] for the abbreviated shelfmarks.
Save the file in UTF-8 Unicode format and close it.
- Reproduction
- Make three instances of each photographic reproduction of each manuscript you catalog, which are going to differ by their size:
Mini - no more than 160 x 160 pixels Medi - exactly 600 pixels high and less than 600 px wide Maxi - exactly 1600 pixels high and less than 1600 px wide All images must be in the Jpg format and have JPG as extension.
Consistency in the size of the images is an important thing. Make sure all the images have the same dimensions. Values out of the given ranges will affect image display and the correct functioning of the magnifier. If you wish to use other values, check the results for the display and the magnifier.
If you know JavaScript, you can also modify the code to suit your particular needs. Change the image dimensions and magnifier size and positioning in file ../../KABIKADJ/SCRIPT/[LL]/FILE_J.JS, function MediImg(look) (make sure to copy the changes in all language versions of this file).
- According to their size, put the images in the folders , , respectively .
- Name the maxi, medium and mini instances by the same name, following the explanations given below, in the Reproductions descriptor.
Customize
- Add descriptors
New descriptor fields can be added to the existing structure without programming knowledge, by mimicking those already existing. If special handling of the data is needed, then programming in JavaScript and Html knowledge is necessary. I recommend the excellent and multilingual manual of Stefan Munz: SelfHtml.
New descriptor fields should be appended at the end of MS_DATA.JS to preserve backwards compatibility. The files that need to be modified are situated in ../KABIKADJ/SCRIPT/[LL]/{SEARCH.HTM, TABLE.JS, FILE_H.JS, FILE_J.JS}.
- Modify lexicons
Multilanguage search and display are based on lexicon files. If the given vocabulary dosen't suit you, you can modify or add to the existing one. Open the files ../KABIKADJ/SCRIPT/[LL]/{LEXEN2[LL].JS, LEX[LL]2EN} in an Unicode enabled text editor such as Notepad and make your modifications.
- Make a portal
Situated in the root directory or Kabikadj, the file ../KABIKADJ/INDEX.HTM serves as a portal to the database. It can be used as a page where the catalogued collections are described. It is a simple Html file that links to the database search page ../KABIKADJ/SCRIPT/[LL]/INDEX.HTM.
- Add extra documents
In case you have additional material pertaining to a catalog item, such a high-quality image TIF files, you can create a folder within the entry where you can store them, like ../KABIKADJ/[collection]/[ms]/IMAGES/TIF for the TIF images. A link to this folder in the catalog file MS_DATA.JS would let users know about the existence of the additional data. Example:
// Reproductions in this catalogue
Catalog[MsNr][DescripteurNr] = "f001r, f001r1, f001r2 (<a href=\"..\IMAGES\TIF\" target=\"_new\">Additional TIF images through this link.</a>)";
Distribute To distribute collections of manuscripts zip all the data contained in the ../KABIKADJ/ folder. Thus you ensure that the user will have *your* version of Kabikadj, supposing that different versions saw the light of the world. If however you are sure that there is no difference in the database, then it is enough to distribute only the folders you wish that are contained in ../KABIKADJ/DATA/, be they collections or individual manuscripts.
Descriptors This section contains a description of the functionality, cataloguing terminology and notation of the descriptive fields. For more information about the descriptors, see Manuel de codicologie des manuscrits en écriture arabe by François Déroche (Paris: Bibliotheque nationale de France, 2000, 413 p.).
S Y N T A X The base language of cataloguing is English, although search & display might be done in any other idiom. But you don't have necessary to understand English in order to do the cataloguing (but, well, if you arrived at this point of the help file...): you can just use the descriptive terminology provided in the lexicon files.
We remind the cataloguer that the general data format of the files MS_DATA.JS is:
<data> <space> <semicolon delimitator> <space> <data> ... <space> <left parenthesis> <remarks> <right parenthesis> Example:
// Languages
Catalog[MsNr][DescripteurNr] = "Arabic ; Persian (heavy mixing of the two languages)";
DescripteurNr++;The semicolon is used to delimitate multiple data in the same field. The remarks will show up when the ms description is displayed, but no search on them is done.
You can enter any Unicode character in the descriptive fields. Make sure your browser displays in a Unicode font. Because few fonts have all the characters needed for Arabic transliteration (especially letter H with dot below), choose 'Arial Unicode MS' under Windows, or download a comprehensive font such as Gentium (distributed with Kabikadj in ../KABIKADJ/EXTRA/, but check producer's website for newer versions). In ../KABIKADJ/CSS/ you can overrule the current font setting of Kabikadj.
The cataloguer might find helpful to use some formatting notation for the display of data:
Function
Notation italic <i>word<i> bold <b>word</b> underline <u>word</u> fixed width <tt>word</tt> smal print <small>word</small> line break paragraph #1<br>
paragraph #2new paragraph paragraph #1<p> paragraph #2
image <img src=\"http://www.w3c.org/Icons/w3c_main.gif\" target=\"_new"> (external link)
<img src=\"../../IMAGES/KBK_BIG.JPG\"> (local link)Internet link <a href=\"http://www.w3c.org/\" target=\"_new\">link</a> The transliteration system of the American Library Association - Library of Congress is the preferred transliteration system in Kabikadj (link). Probably the wealthiest collection of transliteration systems freely available was produced by Søren Binks on a website today managed by Thomas T. Pedersen (link). Look also the documents relating to transliteration in ../KABIKADJ/EXTRA/.
Below, in the Descriptors section, are given the details pertaining to each description field. The basic idea is to keep descriptions clear, consistent and few in numbers. One of the best examples are the options for color description.
Color is very tricky to describe and because most catalogers will not use technical aparatus to measure physical characteristics, I decided to reduce the options as much as acceptable. So my color chart ended with a number of fundamental colors and some particular ones like gold, turquoise or marbling, important in the manuscript traditions of the Middle East. Because most manuscripts are written on paper or parchment, I thought most useful to give some information about the shades of white. To make terminology simple, I designated the shades by combining the word 'white' with the fundamental colors - hence the strange 'white-red' instead of the more common - but more ambiguous - 'reddish'. The user might have observed that there is no 'white' color in my list. Well it's because there is no such color - every white has a shade. But because I wanted to differentiate at least to kinds of whites capital in manuscript examination - the intense white of contemporary photocopying paper (but also of pre-modern Persian manuscript paper) as opposed to the cream (well, ivory) shades of old manuscripts -, I opted to force a choice between either 'white-snow' and 'white-cream'. Because I didn't say - as it would be more common - 'snow-white' and 'cream-white', these two colors will be listed physically close to the other types of white during the search or while stored in the files. (See below the color chart.)
As far as possible, follow standards in terminology. For example the name of countries and languages should be those set by the International Standards Organization. In the ../KABIKADJ/EXTRA/ folder are given a number of such useful documents.
D E S C R I P T O R S
- Name of the collection's folder
Name of the manuscript's folder
Contains the name of the collection and manuscript as given by the cataloguer in the file structure of Kabikadj. For example, if you have the following directories ../KADIKADJ/DATA/BNF/ARA99/, BNF is the collection name and ARA99 the manuscript name. Should be all caps and at most 8 characters long. It is used internally for programming and it isn't visible to the user.
This sections gives identification data about the original and the reproduced manuscript.
- Name of collection in full and in original language and script
- Name of collection in full in Latin characters transliteration
It is possible to give also a translation of the name of the collection - you have to enter it in the lexical files ../KABIKADJ/SCRIPT/[LL]/{LEXEN2[LL].JS, LEX[LL]2EN}.Programming note: Because a collections can contain many manuscripts, it is more memory efficient to mention it once in a separate file, than with each manuscript file. More important, the this system ensures easy addition of new languages to which the collection name will be translated, without the need to open every manuscript file already catalogued.
- Shelfmark of manuscript in original
- Shelfmark of manuscript in transliteration
[descriptor selfexplained]
- Place of collection in original
- Place of collection in transliteration
Give the name of the city or town where the collection is situated.
- Country of collection
Give the name of the collection's country in English here and its translation in other languages in the lexical files. You might want to use standardised terminology, such as ISO 3166-1 for country codes and denominations - look in the files provided for this purpose in the ../KABIKADJ/EXTRA/ directory.
- Abbreviation of the collection's name
Contains a shorter version of the collection's name, that might be more handy to refer to. It shows on the descriptive file, it is not limited to 8 characters and can be different from the name of the collection's folder.
- Reproductions in this catalog
Gives the file names of the ms reproductions stored in ../KABIKADJ/DATA/[collection]/[ms]/IMAGES/ and delimitated by commas. If the data is enclosed in square brackets (like [b0fr, f001v, f01r]) the listing of the available folios will be replaced with the wording "The entire ms.", meaning that the entire ms is reproduced. The function of this is to state clearly that all the ms was reproduced in its integrality.You can spare yourself retyping the long list of reproduction file names by writing a list program. Here is the command line in MS-DOS that is doing this job (Start > Command Prompt):
>dir c:\[path] /B /L /O:N /S >"IMGLST.TXT" The following naming convention are followed. They help translate the abbreviated file names into human meaningful names. Additional abbreviations can be introduced in the function NameImgFiles() of file ../KABIKADJ/SCRIPT/[LL]/FILE_JS.JS.
Folios Character # Values Description 1
F
marks reproductions of manuscript folios (F stands for 'folio') 2-4 numbers 001 to 999 number of folio reproduced 000
notation for the first folio if ms unfoliotated 999
notation for the last folio X
folio info not available
(omitting the zeros before the serial number will sort the files in alphanumeric order, not numeric: 1, 10, 11, 2, 3, ..., 9)5
R, V
folio side (recto, verso) 6-8 numbers 1-9 reproduction of a detail from a folio (0 being the entire page, i.e. no detail) C color control patch (indicates a standardized color matching patch such as those distributed by Kodak) Examples File name Extended name F055Vfolio 55 verso F128VC folio 128 verso with color control patch F561V1R folio 128 verso & 561 recto (doublepage) F766R1 folio 766 recto detail #1 F0001R folio 1 from beginning before 1st folioted F9991V folio 1 from the end FX12R 12nd unspecified folio recto AD inserted flyer
Paper structure 1 P paper structure (reproduction by transparency or any other mean that reveals the watermarks and the sieve in the paper) 2-8 * notation as for the folios (see above) Examples PF095
folio 95 paper structure PF095_7 folio 95 & 97 paper structure P1F095_7 folio 95 & 97 paper detail #1
Binding 1
B
B for binding 2 0 or 1 0 for exterior ; 1 for inside 3-6 FR, BK, SP, FL, HD, TL, FE, AD Side reproduced: front, back, spine, flap, head edge, tail edge, front edge, additional element 7-8 C color control patch 1-9 detail ? any other suffix Examples B0FRC binding exterior of top with color control patch B1FL1 binding interior of flap detail #1
- Bibliography
Bibliographical references to the described manuscript, such as books and articles where it was published or discussed, exhibitions in which it was displayed...
- Author of this catalog notice
Concise information about the cataloger, such as name and cataloguing date or a link to a website pertaining to him and his projects.
- Remarks for the section 'Reference'
- Remarks 'Contens and History'
- Remarks 'Material aspects'
- Remarks 'Script'
Further remarks about the sections. If none, these descriptor fields will not be displayed.
This sections gives identification data about the original and the reproduced manuscript.
- Author in original
- Author in transliteration
Although the descriptors selfexplaining, you should keep onomastics consistent in order to avoid multiplication of personalities in the authority list. Write for example Hafiz or Hafiz Shirazi, but not both. There is a mailing-list for the standardization of authority lists run by professional librarians where you can download such lists and keep you informed about the latest news on the topic (auteursarabes@cines.fr).
- Title in original
- Title in transliteration
Same rules as in the previous descriptor apply. The additional requirement is that together with the name of the collection, this descriptor has the possibility to be given a translation. However, because of the magnitude of variation in this kind of data as compared to other from the catalog, the translation is more efficiently given not in the manuscript descriptive file itself, but in the lexicons. Thus the cataloguer must provide the translation of the tile in ../KABIKADJ/SCRIPT/[LL]/{LEXEN2[LL].JS, LEX[LL]2EN}, to allow multilanguage search & display.
- Subject
Descriptor selfexplaining, although complications will arouse from the non-existence of standard terminology.
- Language
Should follow ISO 639-2 for language codes and denominations, provided in ../KABIKADJ/EXTRA/.
- Date recorded - year notation
Gives the type of the notation for the year (but not that of the month and day): numerical, verbal, abjad, chronogram, acrostic... You might even want to explicit which numerical system is used: Hindi figures, Arabic, Roman, etc.
- Date recorded - calendar system
Give the time keeping system of the dates recorded in the manuscript, such as AD for Anno Domini, Gregorian calendar, AHq for Anno higrae qamari, Islamic lunar calendar or AHsh for Anno higrae shamsi, Islamic solar calendar. This catalog considers the Islamic era to begin on 1 Muharram 1 AHq / Friday 16 Juillet 622 AD.
- Date recorded - year
While in many cases dated manuscripts have all their date digits visible, we need to accommodate the not so rare occurrences where the paper is eaten by worms just where the date stands, the date is erased by human mischief, lacking diacritical points or gibberish writing make it ambiguous or it is conveyed as a chronogram or in acrostic. For codicology numeric handling as in common databases is not enough - here is the notation that I devised for a comprehensive cataloguing of dates. You better stick to this notation if you don't want to get in a quagmire.
Symbols 0-9 digits () ambigous evidence - although the evidence is complete, multiple readings are possible [] incomplete evidence, some digits missing due to damaged writing
- the digits between brackets are estimations
ex: [6]22 or 12[?]4{} encoded evidence: abbreviation, chronograme, acrostich, etc
ex: abbreviation: 678 for 1678 notated {1}678 (Pers.) ; 04 for 2004 notated {20}04 (Lat.)<> centuries: <19> for 19th century ? placeholder for one missing digit, alternate notation to 0-9
if in-between digits (1?2): multiple possible readings... unknown number of digits missing
ex: 1(...) for 12, 123 and 1234/ two years period - more than two years span
Types 1234
complete evidence: fully legible dateRecorded date 1234 Equivalent date 6789 or 6789/90
(but the '/' notation is not allowed for more than two years, ie not good for a range superior to two years)Estimated date 6789, 6789/90
(equals the equivalent date if any given, else see below under 'none recorded date')
(given in AD)
(short format: 6789/90 means 6789 or 6790)
(precise format: the equivalent of 1234 is 01/08/6789-01/06/6790)123(4?9), 1(2?9)3(4?9)
ambiguity: if several readings of the recorded date are possibleRecorded date 123(4?9), 1(2?9)3(4?9) Equivalent date 67[80/1?89/90], 6[0?9][80/1?89/90]
(67[80/1?89/90] means 6780, 6781, 6789 or 6790)Estimated date (equals the equivalent date if any given, else see below under 'none recorded date') 123[?], 12[?]4, 1[?]34, [?]234... [?]2[?]4
incomplete evidence 1: one figure missingRecorded date 123[?], 12[?]4, 1[?]34, [?]234... [?]2[?]4 Equivalent date 678[0-9] or 67[80-90], 6[709-800], 6[0-9]35, [1-9][709-800]
([?] is replaced by [0-9] and the y/y+1 equivalent by the extremity number)
(678[0-9] means any of the numbers in the interval 6780-6789)
(intervals are respected: there is no 1453 in [1-9][70-80]0, but 1789 isEstimated date (equals the equivalent date if any given, else see below under 'none recorded date') 12[??], 1[?]3[?]
incomplete evidence 2: two figures missingRecorded date 12[??], 1[0-9]3[0-9] Equivalent date 6[700-800], 6[0-9][30-40] Estimated date (equals the equivalent date if any given, else see below under 'none recorded date') 1[...]
incomplete evidence n: unknown number figures missing (limited to one to three)Recorded date 1[...] Equivalent date 6[0-9], 6[0-9][0-9], 6[0-9][0-9][0-9] Estimated date (equals the equivalent date if any given, else see below under 'none recorded date') 123[4], [1]23[4], 123[4?9], 123[1?4?7-9]
incomplete evidence z: partially estimated figures
(the difference between estimated and multiple-reading date is that the estimated is based on data external to the graphical date inscription, whereas the former is based on the graphical evidence itself)
(to differentiate the above types the symbols '()' and '[]' are used)Recorded date 123[4], [1]23[4], 123[4?9], 123[1?4?7-9] Equivalent date 67[89/90], [1-9]2[30-40], 67[80/1?89/90], 67[80/1?85/6?88-90] Estimated date (equals the equivalent date if any given, else see below under 'no recorded date') [no recorded date]
estimation: estimated full figures (reason of reconstruction should be given in paranthesis)Recorded date - Equivalent date - Estimated date 6789, 6789/90, 6700-99 Begining of Hijra era is 1 Muharram 1 AHq / Friday 16 Juillet 622 AD (in this catalogue not considered opinion Thursday 15 Juillet 622 AD).
The Date connected fields (notation, calendar, year, month, day, day of week) should have the same number of elements, i.e. if there are given four years (separated by the semicolon delimitator, I should remind you), there should be also four notation, calendar, month, day and day of the week elements (containing - in case they are not recorded in the ms).
Expliciting inbetween parenthesis the folio where the date is appearing would be passed in the annals as an act of courtesy.
Kabikadj collects all the remarks from the related date fields and put them collectively at the end of the of the output field.
Cases and combinations thereof that were tested in Kabikadj ####/#
####/##
####/###
####/####
####-#
####-##
####-###
####-####
#(...)
##(...)
#(...)#
(...)#
(...)##
###[?]
##[??]
#[???]
##[?]#
#[?]##
[?]###
#[??]#
[??]##
[???]#
#[?]#[?]
[?]##[?]
[?]#[?]#
[??]#[?]
[?]#[??]
particular cases:
####-##?####-#?#### (case of triple reign of sultan Baybars)Examples faulty inputs 184[7?8]
Error: the last digit was missing, but contextual data gave the possible years 1847 or 1848 - I was right in my notation, but it is one that is not included in the software: the ? symbol can only appear between parenthesis. So the solution would have been to write 184[8]?184[9].
184[6?8] in Equivalent date
Error: such a notation could only appear in the estimated date, since [ ] denotes missing digits and can contain only ? if it is part of the recorded or equivalent date, since putting any digit inside the brackets would be making an estimation and these two fields can contain only recorded dates.
- Date recorded - month
- Date recorded - day of month
- Date recorded - day of week
Numerical notation. For displaying the Persian names of week days, append FA to the days number (without space).
- Date equivalent AD - year
- Date equivalent AD - month
- Date equivalent AD - day of month
- Date equivalent AD - day of week
Converts dates to Gregorian calendar. See above for notation.
- Date estimated
Gives the estimated year, year span or century of the writing of the manuscript (Gregorian calendar). See notations above. This field should be left empty only if there is no data entered for the 'recorded date'. The reason is that this provides a mean to display the distribution over time of mss characteristics with as much date input as possible. Else there is no way to intersect the data from the recorded and estimated dates fields.
- Place of copying - place in original
- Place of copying - place in transliteration
Gives the place where the ms was written as recorded in it.
- Place of writing - present country
Use ISO 3166-1 for the codes and full names of countries. Update the lexical files of all languages if you introduce new countries.
- Place of copying - probable region
Taking into account geographical usages and considering that this is a database principally for manuscripts of pre-modern Islamic countries, I specified the following areas as pertinent for book cultures using Arabic characters. Areas are not stricly defined, they might overlap: Iraq can be seen as part of the Near East since belonging to the cultures of the Fertile Crescent, but also allredy Middle East, since definitly not a Mediterranean climate.
Americas / Arabian peninsula / Caucasus / Central Asia / East & South Africa / Eastern Asia / Eastern Europe / Maghreb / Middle East / Near East / South Asia / South-East Asia & Pacific / West Africa / Western Europe
- Copyist in original
- Copyist in transliteration
[selfexplaining]
- Patron in original
- Patron in transliteration
Both the individual that ordered the making of the ms (fr.: commanditaire), as the one to which it was offered (fr.: dedicataire).
- Owner / Reader
This field should contain as data only yes and no and in parenthesis the folios involved.
- Waqf
Yes and no with additional data in paranthesis.
This sections gives identification data about the original and the reproduced manuscript.
- Support - material
Out of what material is made that on/in which the writing resides? Paper? Parchment? Wood? Stone? Metal? You name it.
- Support - color
Read in the 'Description' section above (link) abut the issues involving color. Here the adopted terminology:
- Support - thickness
Definition
- thick : >= 0.20 mm
- medium : 0.09 <> 0.20 mm
- fine : <= 0.09 mmPractical example
- 120g 'Bristol' cardboard : >0.20mm
- 80g photocopy A4 : ~0.10 mm
- 60g cigaret paper : ~0.08 mmHistorical example
- thick: Mamluk oversize Qur'an paper : ~0.24-28 mm
- medium: Russian blue paper from Qajar Persia : ~0.11 mm
- fine: Fine XVIIIth c. Shahname paper : ~0.08 mm
- Support - watermark
Contains the International Association of paper historians descriptors for watermarks. Otherwise may be yes or no.
- Support - laid lines disposition
Options: horizontal, vertical as relating to the writing base line.
- Support - laid lines density
Gives how many mm are covered by 20 1/2 laid lines (mean value). As measurement tool use the AD751 software for laid lines density measurements from http://mywebpage.netscape.com/atanasiuvlad/ad751/.
- Support - chain lines spacing
Follows the standard notation adopted in Déroche, Manuel de codicologie...
- Dimensions of support - height
- Dimensions of support - width
- Dimensions of support - thickness
In millimeters. The conversion to Imperial system is a specific internal process of Kabikadj.
- Dimensions of text block - height
- Dimensions of text block - width
Millimeters again. And still converted.
- Folios
Number of folios in the manuscript.
- Quires
Types of quires in the ms: give the number of bifolios per quire (2 for a binion, 3 for a trinion...).
- Oriental foliotation
- Numbering of quires
- Catchwords
- Pricking
Yes or no? (The prickings are little holes at the extremities of papers - look carefully for them!)- Ruling - liniature
- Ruling - framing
The liniature is underlining only the written lines, while the framing corresponds to the text block.
- Lines per page
- Columns
Number of items.
- Frame in ink
- Illumination
- Drawing
- Miniature
Yes / No
- Binding - material
[selfexplaining]
- Binding - flap
Yes / No
- Binding - color: plate
- Binding - color: spine
See the color scheme above.
- Binding - decoration: abstract
- Binding - decoration: vegetal
- Binding - decoration: animal
- Binding - decoration: human
- Binding - decoration: writing
Yes / No
- Weight
In grams and converted by Kabikadj in ounces.
Informatons about the scripts in the manuscript are given in this section.
- Style text
- Style titling
Names of style. We recommend:muhaqaq kebab
naskh with safron rice
nast'aliq a la carbonara
rayhan biological
riq' with chicken
ruqa'ah take away
shekaste parisienne
thuluth viennese
- Quality writing
Options: calligraphic (the script of artists and scribes: very regualr script, follows estabished rules, has aesthetic qualities), regular (daily life writing), irregular (unformed notes). See for more information Vlad Atanasiu, Hypercalligraphie: Le phénomène calligraphique à l’époque du sultanat mamluk (Moyen-Orient, XIIIe–XVIe siècle), Thèse de Doctorat, École pratique des Hautes Études, Paris, 2003, p. 82-94
- Color text
Color titling
See other color related descriptors above.
- Serifs
Options: ayyubid (SW corner of image below), spike (SE), tear (NW), yaquti (NE). These are just four of many serif types and they appear on just some types of writing styles. However, characterizing the Ayyubide, Mamluk, Ottoman and contemporary dynasties in Persia, they are part of the formative period of the pre-modern calligraphy in Islamic countries. Read more in Atanasiu, Hypercalligraphie..., p. 99-106.
- Descendants
Options: open (left on iimage below), closed (right). Does not apply to nast‘alīq, ruqa‘ah, shekaste. See Hypercalligraphie..., p. 107-111.
- Non-Arabic scripts
[selfexplaining]
- Non-Arabic scripts
Should follow ISO 15924 for script codes and denominations, provided in ../KABIKADJ/EXTRA/.
2001 © Vlad Atanasiu
atanasiu@excite.com
Last update: 29 November 2009
