Shamil Jeppie (Historical Studies, University of Cape Town): "Book Collecting in Timbuktu"

Mon Oct 3, 4:30pm:  Shamil Jeppie (Historical Studies, University of Cape Town) "Book Collecting in Timbuktu." In person event, Barker Center 133. Sponsored by the Mahindra Humanities Center Seminar in the History of the Book.

Abstract: This lecture surveys five centuries of collecting in Timbuktu, a town in the interior of West Africa, that has come to symbolize a larger world of learning and book culture in the region. This lecture follows citations in texts written in the town in the 16^th century, book borrowing and copying, through to a major collector of the early 20^th century who both attempted to conserve the manuscript book tradition and imported printed books to Timbuktu.