Abstract
The study of Medieval bookbinding in the Muslim world has come up against major methodological problems, but faces also (and perhaps because of these problems) a certain scepticism on the part of specialists in manuscript studies. The Escorial collection, which is largely made up of manuscripts from the library of the Saadian sultan Mulay Zaydan (r. 1603-1627) that were seized by the Spanish in 1612, offers an exceptional opportunity to pinpoint the characteristics of Moroccan bookbinding in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries - and perhaps slightly earlier.
This presentation will look at various characteristic decorative styles: the first, which has already been the subject of a presentation, is distinguished by the type of central ornament in the shape of a more or less developed lozenge (‘About a series of Late Medieval Moroccan bindings’, with N. de Castilla, in Exploring written artefacts. Objects methods, and concepts, Jörg B. Quenzer ed., Berlin-Boston, 2021, vol. 1, pp. 405-422). A second style, on the other hand, is characterised by circular ornaments. A third style, with a covering decoration, is an exception in the collection.
The bindings thus provide valuable information about their origins and contribute to our knowledge of the history of manuscripts. They also allow us to make some cautious observations about the sociology of their distribution. Finally, they raise a number of questions about the book trade in the Muslim world in the Middle Ages.
