Damascene Ḥanbalī Continuities between Manuscript and Print Culture

Abstract

Known as al-naḥda al-ʿarabiyya (the Arab renaissance), the period between the last quarter of the nineteenth century and the eve of the First World War was characterized by momentous economic and socio-political changes in Arab regions, including reforms in urbanization, industrialization, commercialization, and the growing popularity of ideas about nationhood. […] Although the regional significance of the Arab press during the late 1800s is well recognized, the press’s earlier history was also a transformative moment in book production, one where nascent printing practices interfaced with centuries-old scribal ones.1