Letters of Light: Arabic Script in Calligraphy, Print, and Digital Design

281 Pages·2017·5.91 MB·English

Letters of Light

Letters of Light
Arabic Script in Calligraphy,
Print, and Digital Design
J.R. Osborn
(cid:2)
harvard university press
Cambridge, Massachusetts
London, England
2017
Copyright © 2017 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of Amer i ca
First printing
Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data
Names: Osborn, J.R., author.
Title: Letters of light : Arabic script in calligraphy, print,
and digital design / J.R. Osborn.
Description: Cambridge, Mas sa chu setts : Harvard University Press, 2017. |
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifi ers: LCCN 2016046675 | ISBN 9780674971127 (hardcover : alk. paper)
Subjects: LCSH: Arabic language— Writing— History. | Arabic language— Written
Arabic— History. | Communication and technology— Arab countries.
Classifi cation: LCC PJ6123 .O83 2017 | DDC 492.7/1109— dc23
LC rec ord available at https:// lccn . loc . gov / 2016046675
Inscribed with and for a Host of Characters,
Each with its own personality.

CONTENTS
note on transliteration · ix
Introduction: Past Scripts and Future Visions · 1
1. Th e Layers of Proportional Naskh · 15
2. Ottoman Script Design · 42
3. Eu ro pean Printing and Arabic · 75
4. Print in Ottoman Lands · 102
5. Questions of Script Reform · 131
6. Arabic Script on Computers · 164
Coda: Beyond Arabic · 195
notes · 203
bibliography · 229
acknowle dgments · 255
index · 257

NOTE ON TRANSLITERATION
Since this book seeks to introduce issues of Arabic script to nonspecialist audi-
ences, I have used a simplifi ed form of transliteration that minimizes, as much
as poss ib le, the diacritical marking of Latin letters. Th us, the term khatt
appears instead of khaṭṭ, mushaf instead of muṣḥaf, and masahif instead of
maṣāḥif. An exception is made for the names of Arabic letters. Letter names
display full diacritical marks, including long vowels and sublinear dots for
hard consonants (for example, bā’, jīm, ḥā’, khā, qāf, kāf, e tc.). An apostrophe
(’) is used for both hamza and ‘ayn. Figure 1.1 in Chapter 1 prese nts the Arabic
alphabet (or abjad) along with the Latinate names used for all letters. Since the
book addresses Ottoman Turkish as well as Arabic contexts, it also contains
numerous Turkish terms. Turkish terms and Ottoman Turkish titles retain
modern Turkish spelling. Occasionally, the modern Turkish spelling of an
Arabic term diff ers from common Latinate transliteration of the same Arabic
term. Turkish, for example, refers to the classical style of thuluth as sülüs. In
such cases, Arabic transliteration is preferred. Whenever alternate Turkish
spellings are provided, such as the list of Ottoman scribal styles in Chapter 2,
they are indicated as such. Th ese inclusions are meant to assist scholars who
often wrestle with multiple Latinate spellings of words that appear the same in
Arabic script.
ix