Product Description

The extraordinary manuscripts of Timbuktu: invaluable historical documents, objects of tremendous beauty, and a testament to a great center of learning and civilization.

For centuries, trading caravans made epic journeys across the Saharan sands to reach the markets of the legendary city of Timbuktu, where they traded salt, gold, slaves, textiles—and books. By the mid-fifteenth century, Timbuktu had become a major center of Islamic literary culture and scholarship. The city's libraries were repositories of all the world's learning, housing not only works by Arab and Islamic writers but also volumes from the classical Greek and Roman worlds and studies by contemporary scholars.

The astonishing manuscripts of Timbuktu form the lavish visual heart of this book. Beautifully graphic, occasionally decorated, these exquisite artifacts reveal great craftsmanship as well as learning. All were written in the Arabic script, but not all are in Arabic, for they also feature a range of local African languages.

Aside from scholarly works, the surviving manuscripts include a wealth of correspondence between rulers, advisers, and merchants on subjects as various as taxation, commerce, marriage, divorce, adoption, breastfeeding, and prostitution, providing a vivid insight into the ordinary life and values of the day.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #749584 in Books
• Published on: 2008-11-17
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 176 pages

About the Author
Alida Jay Boye is cofounder and coordinator of the University of Oslo's Timbuktu Manuscripts Project.

John O. Hunwick has devoted a lifetime of scholarship to the history, culture, and literature of Islamic Africa.

Joseph Hunwick's images brilliantly capture the faded majesty of the city and the dignity and warmth of its modern-day inhabitants.

Customer Reviews

Well researched, extradinary photography
I must confess that I didn't know much about Timbuktu until I read this thoroughly researched and beautifully photographed book. After spending an afternoon turning the pages of "The Hidden Treasures of Timbuktu," though, I feel like I made an extended personal visit.

Working under the auspices of the University of Oslo, Norway, and UNESCO, authors John O. Hunwick and Alida Boye have invited us to spend some time to get to know Timbuktu through its history, its people and its rich treasure of manuscripts. The photography is the work of Joseph Hunwich, son of the co-author.

Reading this book is an opportunity to see many of the ancient manuscripts that functioned as literary works and commercial documents, but also as aesthetically compelling imagery. After viewing these many full-page eye-popping photographs, you'll feel like you have personally visited the streets, and then many of the libraries, of one of Africa's cultural centers.

A fine guide for any college-level library specializing in either art or African cultural history
THE HIDDEN TREASURES OF TIMBUKTU: REDISCOVERING AFRICA'S LITERARY CULTURE is a fine guide for any college-level library specializing in either art or African cultural history. For centuries Timbuktu was a major center of Islamic literary and artistic culture: this gathers reproductions of the visual manuscripts of early scholars, offering lovely decorated graphics and in-depth historical notes. Any library strong in African literary history and traditions, also, will appreciate this gathering of Timbuktu treasures and history.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

Wonderful book! Wish there were more phtographs of manuscripts
The book contains wonderful photographs (many are full-page) of old manuscripts written or transcribed in Arab scripts between the 17th and the 19th centuries. Many of them are literally falling apart. Let's hope they'll find a way to preserve these precious pieces of history.

The book is divided into three chapters. The first chapter deals with the history and culture of Timbuktu and takes up about half of the book. The second chapter is the meat of the book - photographs and descriptions of the historic manuscripts that they have found and now preserved in the various libraries around the city. This part of the book covers only about 45 pages. Given the opportunities granted to the authors to these documents, I wished they were more photographs of other manuscripts. Yeah, the photographs are gorgeous, but it would have been even better to sacrifice pages from chapter 1 and put in more photographs of these marvelous manuscripts, especially given the title of the book. Hey, after all, how often does anyone get a chance to visit libraries in Timbuktu? This is why I'm giving the book a 4-star rather than 5.

The third chapter is devoted to the discussion (and listings) of Timbuktu scholars and libraries and this was quite interesting. More pictures of the libraries and their contents would have been even better. A nice glossary and a good bibliography (many sources in French) round up the book. All in all, a very good book but could have been a great one....