The Private Library

English-Language Islamic Fiction and The Private Library

Looking for a "ground floor" book collecting opportunity?

Perhaps you should consider collecting English-language Islamic fiction.

  

To date, very little such fiction has been published.  

As we pointed out in our 2010 series on Arabic literature, the Islamic literary tradition has, until recently, been primarily poetic.  (Arabic literature and Islamic literature are not the same thing, although the Qur'an has influenced Arabic literature as much as the King James Bible has influenced "Western" literature.)

Islam itself is partly responsible for the dearth of Islamic fiction.

  

Just as Christianity is not monolithic, so does Islam encompass a great variety of traditions and individual practices.  One tradition of Islam, for example, has long rejected publication of any type of fiction as haraam (prohibited) because all fiction is considered to be a form of lying.  Another tradition holds that while fiction is not strictly haraam, it is a waste of time (i.e., we have better things to do with our brief lives on earth than read fiction).  Another tradition, however, holds that

...[i]f it is made perfectly clear that this did not really happen, and that the story is being told just to give an example, then there is nothing wrong with that, but one should be careful to ensure that the style, contents and goal are beneficial and that the story helps to explain something about Islam and serves as a[n] effective means of teaching and guiding people....

This last is especially important.  For a book to qualify as Islamic fiction (cf. Christian fiction counterparts such as rapture fiction and bonnet books), it must necessarily reflect the precepts of Islam. This underpinning does not have to be overt:

Aya or hadith don’t have to be quoted or referenced, but the character(s) in the story will be shown to be behaving Islamically or may have to make a decision and will choose based on an Islamic practice and/or belief. The author will not include sexual content, vulgarity, or include content that is untrue or negative about Islam. If the author includes content about a book character doing something unIslamic, in the story the author will show that conduct as unIslamic. The author doesn’t need to have a billboard or red flag waving to do this.  It is all about the showing not the preaching and telling....

Understandably, much of the English-language Islamic fiction that has been published to date has been aimed at the juvenile market.  Islam often is foreign to children of Muslim parents who live in "the West," just as Judaism often is foreign to children of Jewish parents (cf. the celebration of Christmas to the exclusion of other holidays).  Islamic fiction is an attempt to connect such children with their religious heritage in a positive and "modern" way.

  

Although Islamic fiction currently is not recognized by the Book Industry Standards and Communications (BISAC) coding system, the Islamic Writers Alliance (IWA) is working diligently to change this.  Given how easy it is to demonize people whose languages we don't understand, whose values and beliefs we (often mistakenly believe) we do not share, one can only hope that IWA's efforts bear fruit sooner rather than later.

This list will help you start collecting such fiction, should you be interested....

Made-Up Copies and the Private Library

The general populace seems to harbor a somewhat naive and romantic view of early printing houses, such views no doubt abetted by illustrations such as this 1590 copperplate engraving by Stradanus:

In fact, the earliest printed books in Western Europe were issued by printer-publishers whose employees worked in spaces that often were quite small and cramped.  These spaces frequently offered very little light by which to work.  The work areas often were freezing cold in winter and swelteringly hot in summer, with little air circulation unless a door or window could be cracked open.  The printing done therein frequently was undertaken by illiterate or poorly educated, overworked (or underworked and, therefore, often itinerant) laborers that were (book historians aver) oft times inebriated during their 12-14 hour work day:

  

Under such circumstances, misprints often were more the rule than the exception. Type might be over- or under-inked.  Sheets might be printed with numerous typos, perhaps through a failure to follow copy.  (How early printers printed would have a great impact on the standardization of spelling in various vernacular languages). Frisket-bite might lead to pages not being cleanly printed (margins, for example, might be off).  Colors might be out-of-register.   

And this does not even begin to enumerate the ills to which early printed books were heir, as mistakes made by printer-publishers (these responsibilities eventually were separated) were only part of the mix. Authors, for example, might make changes to a work after a title had been set in type but before the title actually was printed.  Or even after a title had been printed, thereby necessitating various cancels and/or errata.

Because corrections often were made in the type after several sheets already had been printed off, corrected and uncorrected sheets often were bound together indiscriminately. Moreover, signatures might be bound out-of-sequence or upside-down.  Illustrations might be overlooked.  The opportunities for bibliographical mischief -- by printers, authors, binders -- were many.

  

And thereby hangs a tale....

Modern collectors of antiquarian books tend to be purists.  

Before they lay out good money for a book, especially an expensive book, they want assurances that the book they are buying (and the binding and/or jacket in which it is clothed) is authentic.

If there is some sort of standard reference which collates the pages and illustrations of an ideal copy, all such pages and illustrations had better be there.  If there are misprints at certain points in the text, those misprints had better be there.  If the paper is supposed to have a certain watermark, that watermark had better be there. Any annotations or authorial signatures must be authenticated. 

  

Of course, this often is easier said than done.  Previous generations of book collectors, after all, were not always so pure.  If their copy of a book lacked a title page, for example, they might insert a title page from another copy of the same edition that had, perhaps, a defective binding. (Alternatively, they might have a facsimile title page created to replace the one that was missing.  Facsimile replacements, though, were often intended to deceive.  For a counter-example, see the image below.) Ditto for pages inserted upside-down or out-of-order.  Ditto for missing illustrations. 

Where these sorts of substitutions were made using pages from another copy of the same edition, the result traditionally has been termed a made-up copy.

Such copies can be difficult to spot without careful collation. Unlike substitutions utilizing facsimiles (or pages from a different edition), made-up copies generally were not put together with an intent to deceive--the intent, rather, was to create as perfect a copy as possible (relative to some ideal copy) for one's own collection.  (Intent, of course, may be difficult to establish without some sort of corroborating evidence.) Because a made-up copy contains replacement pages from a copy of the same edition, alarms generally are not set off by, for example, differences in paper texture or weight.

John Carter, in his much-cited ABC for Book Collectors, cautions that great care should be exercised in purchasing any book that arouses suspicion, and cites several examples:

...an old book rebound in the 19th century, an unusually fresh but apparently early binding, or any notorious rarity, particularly if it has surfaced in an unexpected place.... The surface and structure of the paper should be observed and if possible compared with a copy whose provenance puts it beyond suspicion.  The ink should be examined under a microscope or at least a high-magnification glass for the characteristic craquelure of age. Any discordant element, a single leaf (particularly the title) differing in any way from the rest, must alert special caution....

The example below, via Ellwood Books, obviously was intended to perfect a very scarce book rather than deceive a buyer, as the title page is a facsimile, on ordinary photocopy paper, of a title page taken from a public library's copy of the same edition:

Should you lack the expertise to undertake collations yourself, an independent bookseller who specializes in your area(s) of interest might well prove to be your best friend....

The Popescu Prize and The Private Library

Do you know anyone who collects books of poetry?

For reasons we have examined previously, poetry has a tough time garnering an audience these days.  In fact, most modern poetry never finds a publisher.  Much of the poetry that does make it into print appears not as an imprint of major commercial publishers, but as the imprint of academic or small independent publishers, or private and fine presses.

The situation is even worse for "foreign" poetry seeking an English-speaking audience. Because most English-speaking collectors (at least those in the Americas) are monolingual, even private libraries that do focus on poetry often exclude poetry in other languages.  

Thankfully, some collectors do make exceptions for poetry published in English translation.  Fortunately, also, a number of prizes are awarded for such translations, lacking which much excellent poetry probably never would make it onto the shelves of English-speaking book collectors.  

One of the most important poetry translation prizes -- the Corneliu M. Popescu Prize for Poetry Translated from a European Language into English (known more simply as The Popescu Prize) -- seems to be much better known to European book collectors than to collectors in the Americas:

  

Formerly known as the European Poetry Translation Prize (1983-1997),

the Prize was relaunched in 2003, and renamed in memory of the young Romanian translator Corneliu M Popescu, who died in an earthquake in 1977, aged 19. Popescu translated the work of one of Romania's leading poets, Mihai Eminescu, into English.

The prize currently is awarded every other year by Great Britain's Poetry Society.  This year's recipient will be announced in early November at the 23rd Aldeburgh Poetry Festival.

Alan Brownjohn, who had a major role in the re-launch of this prize, has described elsewhere some of the difficulties involved in awarding a translation prize:

too many of the books entered for [a translation prize provide] ... little incentive for even open-minded and sympathetic readers to take much interest in them; a sad disservice to the poets. Several titles [are] rejected because, while commendable in themselves ... they [offer] too small a selection. Other, longer books [lack] useful, informative introductions giving clear impressions of what to look for, surely a necessary courtesy to readers who may be unfamiliar with [a poet] or his/her language....

Increasingly, translations are being done without the collaboration of a native English speaker. It's not hard to see why: the translators earn points for knowledge of English and the desire to break down barriers. And native speakers with knowledge and time to give, unpaid, are hard to find (translating verse is a slow, delicate and exhausting process.) But this practice usually results in poor, wooden, or just plain faulty versions. It spreads misunderstanding of the poetry....

As is the case with most other translation prizes, the Popescu prize money goes to the translator, not to the poet. What the poet gets, hopefully, is increased sales of his or her poetry.

  

The shortlist for this year's prize may be found here.  The poets and publishers in this list were winnowed from 73 entries published in 25 European languages....

Hint Fiction and The Private Library

As we have pointed out in numerous previous posts, one of the least expensive ways to quickly build an interesting and substantial private library is to collect what everyone else is not collecting.  This might be authors or subjects that others consider too risque or silly, for example; or it could be authors or subjects that once were popular, but which are perhaps less so nowadays; or it could be authors or subjects which still are under the radar of fellow book collectors. 

Into that latter category must surely be placed the genre of hint fiction.  Robert Swartwood coined the concept a mere two years ago, suggesting that extremely short fiction might be the key to getting the Twitter Generation more interested in fiction per se:

Inspired by Ernest Hemingway’s infamous six-word story — “For sale: Baby shoes, never worn” — Hint Fiction is a story of 25 words or fewer that suggests a larger, more complex story. These are complete stories that hint at a larger story, not a first sentence or random sentence plucked from a larger work thinly disguised as a story.

Though Swartwood originally created this "genre" as something of a lark, it apparently was a genre whose time had come: his 2010 anthology of such fiction (see image below left) received very favorable reviews, including an appearance on NPR's Weekend Edition:

 

Because the Fair Use provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act do not contemplate reproduction of text this short, we refer you to Swartwood's own site for the winners of his 2009, 2010 and 2011 contests for such fiction.

Although traditional authors have yet to till this largely unplowed ground (John Sheirer -- see image above right -- being a notable exception), we suspect that the genre may yet attract a following (as have cell phone novels).  After all, if novellas and short stories demand too much of your time....

Book Collecting 101 at The Private Library

Anyone who has spent much time exploring Internet sites devoted to book collecting can be excused for coming away with the feeling that such collecting is too expensive and/or too complicated for the average person.  

The focus at too many such sites continues to be on great rarities, or on well-heeled collectors, or on events that the average working stiff can't possibly take time off from work to attend.

   

Here at The Private Library, though, we contend that anyone can collect the printed book!  

We contend that book collecting need not require a lot of money (though you certainly can spend a lot of money if you wish).

And we further contend that book collecting does not require a room full of custom-crafted mahogany bookshelves (though if that makes you happy, no one's stopping you).

  

Book collecting does require some sort of idea as to what it is that you want to focus on (a particular author or subject, for example).  

And book collecting does require some thought as to how your efforts might best be rewarded (should you, for example, collect what everyone else is collecting, or perhaps collect what everyone else is not collecting).  

Book collecting requires, in short, some sort of intellectual road map as to how one might best grow one's collection if, as is the case with most folks, you don't have infinite time and unlimited financial resources.

  

The Private Library has spent some 700+ posts attempting to sketch out just such a map.  

We have examined free and/or low-cost ways to begin and/or add to your book collection; we have investigated free and/or low-cost ways to store and care for your book collection; we have considered the focus that is needed to turn an accumulation of books into a book collection; we have looked at a number of authors, subjects and the like that other book collectors often do not collect, highlighting areas where a little bit of money might well net you a great many books; we have suggested how a specialist bookseller might prove to be your best friend; we have recounted the experiences of fellow book collectors, in the hope that their accomplishments and/or missteps might prove instructive as you try to put together your private library; we have gathered together a great many online resources to supplement, and expand upon, the topics that we have covered in our posts.

  

We continue to sketch out this map with next Friday's post....