His studies of printing and book history have convinced him both of the importance of good Arabic book design and of the need for separate typographical norms for Arabic, rather than endless imitations of traditional calligraphy.
Relevant publications
ARTICLES
Arabic printing: its history and significance. Ur, 1982 i, pp.23-30.
Arabic incunabula. L'Arabisant, 21 (1982), pp.18-28.
George Percy Badger (1815-1888). British Society for Middle Eastern Studies Bulletin, 11 (1984), pp.140-145.
Bibliography of George Percy Badger (1815-88). British Society for Middle Eastern Studies
Bulletin, pp.145-155.
Arabic printing and publishing in England before 1820. British Society for Middle Eastern Studies Bulletin, 12 (1985), pp.12-32. Online at http://www.ghazali.org/articles/bsmes-12-1-85-gr.pdf
Bibliography of the Arab Middle East, with particular reference to Index Islamicus. Arabic resources: acquisition and management in British libraries. Ed. D.Burnett. London 1986, pp.11-37.
The export of Arabic books from Europe to the Middle East in the 18th century. BRISMES: British Society for Middle Eastern Studies (in association with AFEMAM): Proceedings of the 1989 International Conference on Europe and the Middle East ... Durham ... 1989. Oxford 1989, pp.226-233.
The Islamic Bibliography Unit. Bulletin of the Friends of Cambridge University Library, 10 (1989) pp.16-22.
National awareness, civic rights and the rôle of the printing press in the 19th century: the careers and opinions of Fāris al-Shidyāq, his colleagues and patrons. Democracy in the Middle East: proceedings of the annual conference of the British Society for Middle Eastern Studies ... 1992. St Andrews 1992, pp.180-188.
Islamic Bibliography Unit, Cambridge University Library. Cambridge Bibliographical Society Newsletter, Autumn 1993, pp.6-7.
Index Islamicus. MELA Notes, 58-59 (1993), pp.22-25.
Mu-ssu-lin shih-chieh shu-mu-hsü'eh kai-k'uang. Chung-tung yen-chiu tao-lun.
Taipeh: Sino-Arabian Cultural & Economic Association, 1993.
Bibliography of the Muslim world: an introduction (in Chinese).
(with C.H.Bleaney) United Kingdom. World survey of Islamic manuscripts. Vol. Three. Ed.
G.Roper. London 1994, pp.429-533.
Fāris al-Shidyāq and the transition from scribal to print culture in the Middle East. The book in the Islamic world: the written word and communicationin the Middle East. Ed. G.N.Atiyeh. Albany (USA) 1995, pp.283-292.
Reference books. The Oxford Encyclopedia of the modern Islamic world. J.L.Esposito (ed.).
Volume 3. New York 1995, pp.415-420.
Islamic art. III,8: Printing. The Dictionary of Art. [Vol.] 16. London & New York 1996,
pp.359-363.
Ahmad Faris al-Shidyaq (d.1887) in Cambridge. Cambridge Bibliographical Society Newsletter, Summer 1996, pp.5-8.
Turkish printing and publishing in Malta in the 1830s. (Imprimerie et publications turques à
Malte dans les années 1830.) Turcica, 29 (1997) pp.413-421.
Bibliography of publications of J.D.Pearson. MELA Notes, 65-66 (1997-98), pp.63-66.
Printing and publishing. Encyclopedia of Arabic literature. Ed. J.S.Meisami & P.Starkey.
London 1998, pp.613-615.
Persian printing and publishing in England in the 17th century. Iran and Iranian studies:
essays in honor of Iraj Afshar. Ed. Kambiz Eslami. Princeton 1998, pp.316-328.
Ahmad Fāris al-Shidyāq and the libraries of Europe and the Ottoman Empire. Libraries &
Culture, 33 iii (1998), pp.233-248.
Ahmad Fâris al-Shidyaq (ö.1887) ve Avrupa ve Osmanlı imparatorluğu kütüphaneleri.
Kütüphanecilik Dergisi, 5 (1998), pp.111-130.
Texts from nineteenth-century Egypt: the role of E.W.Lane. Travellers in Egypt. Ed. P.Starkey & J.Starkey. London 1998, pp.244-254.
Obituaries of J.D.Pearson (1911-97) in Al-`Usur al-Wusta, BRISMES Newsletter, IIAS
Newsletter, SIS News and MELA Notes.
The beginnings of Arabic printing by the ABCFM, 1822-1841. Harvard Library Bulletin,
N.S.9 i / 1998 (1999), pp.50-68.
(with J.Tait): Coptic typography: a brief sketch = Koptische Typographie: eine kurze Skizze. Middle Eastern languages and the print revolution: a cross-cultural encounter = Sprachen des Nahen Ostens und die Druckrevolution: eine interkulturelle Begegnung. Ed. E.Hanebutt-Benz, D.Glaß, G.Roper / Gutenberg Museum Mainz, Internationale Gutenberg-Gesellschaft. Westhofen: Skulima, 2002, pp.117-121.
Early Arabic printing in Europe = Arabische Frühdruck in Europa. Middle Eastern languages and the print revolution: a cross-cultural encounter = Sprachen des Nahen Ostens und die Druckrevolution: eine interkulturelle Begegnung. Ed. E.Hanebutt-Benz, D.Glaß, G.Roper / Gutenberg Museum Mainz, Internationale Gutenberg-Gesellschaft. Westhofen: Skulima, 2002, pp.129-150.
(with D.Glaß): Arabische Buchdruck in der arabischen Welt = The printing of Arabic books in the Arab world. Middle Eastern languages and the print revolution: a cross-cultural encounter = Sprachen des Nahen Ostens und die Druckrevolution: eine interkulturelle Begegnung. Ed. E.Hanebutt-Benz, D.Glaß, G.Roper / Gutenberg Museum Mainz, Internationale Gutenberg-Gesellschaft. Westhofen: Skulima, 2002, pp.177-205.
فارس الشدياق والانتقالة من ثقافة النسخ إلى ثقافة الطباعة في الشرق الاوسطּ الكتاب في العالم الإسلامي: الكلمة المكتوبة كوسيلة للاتصال في منطقة الشرق الأوسطּ تحرير: جورج عطيةּ
الكويت: المجلس الوطني للثقافة والفنون ٢٠٠٣ (عالم المعرفة، ۲٩۷
189-209 صּ
Arabic tr. of “Fāris al-Shidyāq and the transition from scribal to print culture in the Middle East", 1995.
(with C.H.Bleaney & V.Shepherd): Women and Islamic cultures: a bibliography of books and articles in European languages since 1993. Encyclopedia of women & Islamic cultures. Volume I: Methodologies, paradigms and sources. Ed. Suad Joseph & others. Leiden: Brill, 2003, pp.445-665.
Index Islamicus. History Compass, 1 (2003), pp.1-4. Online at www.blackwell-synergy.com
Iraqi Centre for Manuscripts, Baghdad. دار المخطوطات العراقية فى بغداد . Al-Furqān Islamic Heritage Foundation Newsletter, 9 (2004), pp.10-11.
مؤسسة الفرقان للتراث الاسلامي: النشرة الإعلامية، ٩ ﴿١٤٢٥ﻫ∕٢٠٠٤م﴾، ﺹ.۱۰-١١ . دار المخطوطات العراقية
Christian Rassam (1808-72): translator, interpreter, diplomat and liar. Travellers in the Near East. Ed. Charles Foster. London: Stacey International, 2004, pp.183-200.
Badger, George Percy (1815-1888). Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004. Vol.3, p.201. Online at http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/1021
Faris, Ahmad (Ahmad Fāris; formerly Faris ibn Yusuf al-Shidyaq) (1805/6-1887). Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004. Vol.19, pp.47-48. Online at http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/60819
Wright, William (1830-1889). Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004. Vol.60, pp.506-507. Online at http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/30069
Arabic books printed in Malta 1826-42: some physical characteristics. History of printing and publishing in the languages and countries of the Middle East, ed. Philip Sadgrove.
Oxford: Oxford University Press on behalf of the University of Manchester, 2004 (2005) (Journal of Semitic Studies, Supplement 15), pp.111-129
Al-Jawā'ib Press and the edition and transmission of Arabic manuscript texts in the 19th century. Theoretical approaches to the transmission of Oriental manuscripts: proceedings of a symposium held in Istanbul, March 28-30, 2001, ed. Judith Pfeiffer, Manfred Kropp.
Beirut: Orient-Institut; Würzburg: Ergon-Verlag, in Kommission, 2007 (Beiruter Texte und Studien, 111), pp.237-247
The printing press and change in the Arab world. Agent of change: print cultural studies after Elizabeth Eisenstein. Ed. Sabrina Alcorn Baron, Eric N. Lindquist & Eleanor F. Shevlin. Amherst & Boston: University of Massachussetts Press, in association with the Center for the Book, Library of Congress, 2007, pp.250-267
Muslim printing before Gutenberg. MuslimHeritage.com. [Manchester:] Foundation for Science Technology and Civilisation (FSTC), 2008. Online at http://muslimheritage.com/topics/default.cfm?ArticleID=940 [accessed 24.8.2009]
The fate of manuscripts in Iraq and elsewhere. MuslimHeritage.com. [Manchester:] Foundation for Science Technology and Civilisation (FSTC), 2008. Online at http://muslimheritage.com/topics/default.cfm?ArticleID=996 [accessed 24.8.2009]
Turkish printing and publishing in England in the seventeenth century. Printing and publishing in the Middle East: papers from the Second Symposium on the History of Printing and Publishing in the Languages and Countries of the Middle East, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris 2-4 November 2005. Contributions au deuxième colloque sur l'Histoire de l'imprimé dans les langues et les pays du Moyen Orient, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris, 2-4 novembre 2005, ed. Philip Sadgrove. Oxford: Oxford University Press on behalf of the University of Manchester, 2008 (Journal of Semitic Studies, Supplement 24), pp.77-87
Nasib manuskrip Irak dan tempat lainnya. Abhicom2001. [Jakarta:] Multiply, 2009. Online at http://abhicom2001.multiply.com/journal/item/184/The_Fate_of_Manuscripts_in_Iraq_and_Elsewhere_Nasib_Manuskrip_Irak_dan_tempat_lainnya [accessed 10.11.2011]
Indonesian tr. of “The fate of manuscripts in Iraq and elsewhere”, 2008.
The travails of Euro-Arabic: calligraphy, logography and typography in the early modern period. دبيره Dabireh Collective: studies on Persian-Arabic typography and Persian language. [Tehran,] 2009. Online [only] at http://dabirehcollective.com/article/28
The Vienna Arabic Psalter of 1792 and the rôle of typography in European-Arab relations in the 18th century and earlier. Kommunikation und Information im 18. Jahrhundert: das Beispiel der Habsburgermonarchie. Hrsg. Johannes Frimmel u. Michael Wögerbauer. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 2009 (Buchforschung: Beiträge zum Buchwesen in Österreich, 5), pp.77-89
The book in the Muslim world. The Oxford Companion to the Book. Edited by Michael F. Suarez and H.R. Woudhuysen. Volume 1: Essays. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010, pp.321-339.
Arabic biblical and liturgical texts printed in Europe in the 16th-18th centuries. Lucrările Simpozionului Internaţional: Cartea. Romănia. Europa. Ediţia a II-a - 20-24 septembrie 2009: 550 de ani de la prima atestare documentară a oraşului Bucureşti / Biblioteca Metropolitană Bucureşti. Ed. Adina Berciu, Rodica Pop, Julieta Rotaru. Bucharest: Editura Biblioteca Bucureştilor, 2010, pp.174-186.
تلاش هاى عربى- اروݒايى: خوشنويسى، نشانه نگارى و نوشته نگارى در دوران ابتدايى مدرنيسم . دبيره: الف،
دفترى در خط و زبان فارسى، زير نظر رضا عابديني. تهران: دبيره،
، ص ۴۰- ۵۶ [2011]۱۳۸۹
Persian tr. of “The travails of Euro-Arabic: calligraphy, logography and typography in the early modern period”, 2009.
England and the printing of texts for Orthodox Christians in Greek and Arabic, 17th-19th centuries. Travaux de Symposium international: le Livre. La Roumanie. L'Europe. Troisième édition - 20 à 24 Septembre 2010, 300 ans après la intronisation de l'érudit roumain Dimitrie Cantemir en Moldavie / Bibliothèque Métropolitaine Bucarest. Tome I
Bucharest: Editeur Bibliothèque de Bucarest, 2011, pp.430-443.
Forthcoming: Missionary typography in Arabic religious texts and its relationship with Orthodox and Muslim sacred printing in the 19th century. Sacred texts and print culture: the case of Qur'an and Bible of the Orthodox churches during the 18th and 19th century. Edited by Sorin Antohi and Nadia al-Bagdadi. Budapest: Central European University.
Forthcoming: Arabic printing in Scotland before the 20th century: an historical sketch. Festschrift for Paul Auchterlonie. Edited by Robert Gleave. London (?).
Forthcoming: Music, drama and Orientalism in print: Joseph von Kurzböck, his predecessors and contemporaries. Ottoman Empire and European theatre, from the beginnings to 1800. II. The time of Joseph Haydn (1732-1809), from Sultan Mahmud I to Mahmud II (r.1730-1839). Edited by Michael Hüttler. Vienna: Don Juan Archiv, 2011?.
Forthcoming: An autograph manuscript of Aḥmad Fāris al-Šidyāq, prepared by him for the press. Writings and writing from another world and another era: investigations in Islamic text and script in honour of Dr Januarius Justus Witkam. Ed. Robert M. Kerr & Thomas Milo. Cambridge: Archetype, 2011?.
Forthcoming: Fāris al-Shidyāq as translator and editor. A life in praise of words: Aḥmad Fāris al-Shidyāq and the nineteenth century. Ed. Nadia al-Bagdadi, Fawwaz Traboulsi, Barbara Winckler. Wiesbaden: Reichert, 2011 (Litkon, 37).