Arabic scripts in West African manuscripts: a tentative classification from the de Gironcourt collection

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Periodical article

Title:	Arabic scripts in West African manuscripts: a tentative classification from the de Gironcourt collection
Author:	Nobili, Mauro
Year:	2011
Periodical:	Islamic Africa (ISSN 2154-0993)
Volume:	2
Issue:	1
Pages:	105-133
Language:	English
Geographic term:	West Africa
Subjects:	manuscripts writing systems Arabic language
External link:	https://doi.org/10.5192/215409930201105
Abstract:	Arabic scripts employed in West African manuscripts have not been fully explored in scholarly literature. This paper first discusses the literature - published and unpublished - available on this subject. The overview reveals a need to engage in further analysis of the Arabic writing styles found in West African manuscripts. The paper then proposes a classification of West African writing styles, based on an analysis of the 'de Gironcourt' collection of Arabic manuscripts, gathered by the French 'ingénieur-agronome' Georges de Gironcourt (1878- 1960) in Mali, Niger, and Nigeria at the beginning of the twentieth century. The collection is hosted today at the Bibliothèque de l'Institut de France (Paris). The paper identifies five categories of scripts employed in the manuscripts of the de Gironcourt collection: sahrawi, maghribi, suqi, Central Sudanic cursive hands, and Masina hands. This suggests the existence of regional variations of writing styles instead of ethnic ones, as usually advanced in the literature. Notes, ref., sum. [ASC Leiden abstract]