Livres et « bibliothèques » dans les inventaires après décès de Salonique au XIXe siècle

In 19th century Salonica, book owners constituted - among Muslims at least - a singular category of people. This is observed when going through probate inventories kept in the Historical Archives of Macedonia in Salonica. Individuals who left some written material to their heirs - most often only a...

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Main Author: Meropi Anastassiadou
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Université de Provence 1999-09-01
Series:Revue des Mondes Musulmans et de la Méditerranée
Online Access:https://journals.openedition.org/remmm/300
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author Meropi Anastassiadou
author_facet Meropi Anastassiadou
author_sort Meropi Anastassiadou
collection DOAJ
description In 19th century Salonica, book owners constituted - among Muslims at least - a singular category of people. This is observed when going through probate inventories kept in the Historical Archives of Macedonia in Salonica. Individuals who left some written material to their heirs - most often only a Quran - are no more than 6 to 7 % of the deceased registered in the defter-s. In this period, possessing one or more books at home was obviously something exceptional. According to the probate inventories, the rule was the absence of any contact with written texts.This remark brings up a certain number of questions. The first one concerns whether the titles of books appearing in probate inventories can teach one something about the individuals who owned them, about their intellectual interests, certainties or desires. In a different trend, the probate inventories permit the researcher to examine the social and economic profile of book owners. In 19th century Salonica, was the pleasure of reading reserved only to a few, was it a privilege linked to fortune, power or some particular professional qualifications ? The role of the book as a simple mark of knowledge, prestige and authority is also examined in this article. Above all, is not the book an emblematic object ? Is it made more to be shown off than read ? Examining the books, counting them and noting their titles is also a way to approach the society.
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publishDate 1999-09-01
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series Revue des Mondes Musulmans et de la Méditerranée
spelling doaj-art-1bf3a9bc28bd4db3a7d48ad294da548a2025-01-09T13:23:10ZengUniversité de ProvenceRevue des Mondes Musulmans et de la Méditerranée0997-13272105-22711999-09-018711114110.4000/remmm.300Livres et « bibliothèques » dans les inventaires après décès de Salonique au XIXe siècleMeropi AnastassiadouIn 19th century Salonica, book owners constituted - among Muslims at least - a singular category of people. This is observed when going through probate inventories kept in the Historical Archives of Macedonia in Salonica. Individuals who left some written material to their heirs - most often only a Quran - are no more than 6 to 7 % of the deceased registered in the defter-s. In this period, possessing one or more books at home was obviously something exceptional. According to the probate inventories, the rule was the absence of any contact with written texts.This remark brings up a certain number of questions. The first one concerns whether the titles of books appearing in probate inventories can teach one something about the individuals who owned them, about their intellectual interests, certainties or desires. In a different trend, the probate inventories permit the researcher to examine the social and economic profile of book owners. In 19th century Salonica, was the pleasure of reading reserved only to a few, was it a privilege linked to fortune, power or some particular professional qualifications ? The role of the book as a simple mark of knowledge, prestige and authority is also examined in this article. Above all, is not the book an emblematic object ? Is it made more to be shown off than read ? Examining the books, counting them and noting their titles is also a way to approach the society.https://journals.openedition.org/remmm/300
spellingShingle Meropi Anastassiadou
Livres et « bibliothèques » dans les inventaires après décès de Salonique au XIXe siècle
Revue des Mondes Musulmans et de la Méditerranée
title Livres et « bibliothèques » dans les inventaires après décès de Salonique au XIXe siècle
title_full Livres et « bibliothèques » dans les inventaires après décès de Salonique au XIXe siècle
title_fullStr Livres et « bibliothèques » dans les inventaires après décès de Salonique au XIXe siècle
title_full_unstemmed Livres et « bibliothèques » dans les inventaires après décès de Salonique au XIXe siècle
title_short Livres et « bibliothèques » dans les inventaires après décès de Salonique au XIXe siècle
title_sort livres et bibliotheques dans les inventaires apres deces de salonique au xixe siecle
url https://journals.openedition.org/remmm/300
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