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	CONFERENCE ON MIDDLE EASTERN PRINTING & PUBLISHING HISTORY

The First World Congress of Middle Eastern Studies will take place in Mainz,
9-12 September 2002, under the auspices of a number of international bodies,
including the Middle East studies associations of Europe, North America and
elsewhere. (Further information from the organiser, Prof. Guenter Meyer,
[log in to unmask] )

Under the umbrella of this Congress, a number of specialist sessions or
sub-conferences will be held. It is proposed that one of these will be on
"The history of printing and publishing in the countries and languages of the
Middle East". This is especially appropriate in Mainz, which is the city of
Gutenberg, the birthplace of the printing press, and location of the world's
largest and most important printing history museum, the Gutenberg Museum. The
Director of the Museum has been approached and has expressed his enthusiasm
for the proposal: it may be possible to hold the sessions in the Museum, and
there will probably be a special exhibition there on the subject.

The following are some (but not necessarily all) of the themes which may be
discussed in conference papers and sessions:-

# Arabic and Hebrew printing before Gutenberg

# The origins and development of European typography in Hebrew, Arabic, Syriac,
Armenian and other Middle Eastern scripts

# The arrival and development of typography in the Middle East, and the reasons
for its lateness

# The aesthetic and practical dimensions of Middle Eastern typography and type
design, and the cognitive effects of the printed page

# The use of lithography in the Middle East

# The preparation of Middle Eastern texts for printing, in its historical and
physical aspects

# The history of Middle Eastern publishing, and the social, economic,
psychological and literary consequences of its development

# The history of publishing in Middle Eastern languages in Europe, the
Americas and elsewhere outside the Middle East

# The birth and early growth of newspapers and periodicals in the Middle East

# The early development of libraries of printed books in the Middle East

# The problems and challenges of descriptive and analytical bibliography of
early and rare Middle Eastern printed materials

The convenors will be Dr Dagmar Glass (University of Erlangen) and myself.
Obviously we are still at the early planning stage. What we need now, or quite
soon, is some indication that sufficient people will attend and give papers,
to make the conference viable. 

So please think about it, and let me know that you will be coming, and, better
still, giving a paper. An indication of the subject-matter is required, but
not necessarily a precise title at this stage.

Mainz is a highly accessible venue, being less than 30 minutes by direct train
from Frankfurt Airport. (And it is on the Rhine.) Special deals for travel and
accommodation will be negotiated for the Congress.

If you have any queries, please do not hesitate to get in touch.

						Geoffrey Roper (Dr)

						Islamic Bibliography Unit
						Cambridge University Library


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