Writing and Printing

Al-Fihrist

The Kitāb al-Fihrist (Arabic: كتاب الفهرست) (The Book Catalogue) is a compendium of the knowledge and literature of tenth-century Islam compiled by Ibn al-Nadim (d. 998). It references approx. 10,000 books and 3,500 to 3,700 authors, despite being incomplete. A crucial source of medieval Arabic-Islamic literature, it preserves the names of authors, books and accounts otherwise entirely lost. Al-Fihrist is evidence of Ibn al-Nadim's thirst for knowledge among the sophisticated milieu of Baghdad's intellectual elite. As a record of civilisation transmitted through Muslim culture to the Western world, it provides unique classical material and links to other civilisations.

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See also

• ▸Al-Waqa'i' al-Misriyya
• ▸Edward Smith (sea captain)
• ▸Aamulehti

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