ʿAjāʾib al-Āthār fī ʼl-Tarājim wa-ʼl-Akhbār - The Marvelous Chronicles: Biographies and Events

ʿAbd al-Raḥman al-Jabartī (1753-1825) is the most important historian of late Ottoman Egypt. His Marvelous Chronicles: Biographies and Events (ʿAjāʾib al-Āthār fī ʼl-Tarājim wa-ʼl-Akhbār) covers the history of Egypt from 1688 to 1821, a period which includes Napoleon's invasion and the French occupation of the country (1798-1801). The present edition, prepared by Shmuel Moreh of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, is the first to offer a critical text. It is based on the autograph manuscript preserved in the Cambridge University Library. Moreh collated the autograph with the MSS of al-Jabartī's two short histories of the French occupation of Egypt, Muddat al-Faransīs bi-Miṣr and Maẓhar al-taqdīs bi-dhahāb dawlat al-Faransīs. He also collated it with a number of other manuscripts of the ʿAjāʾib, paying particular attention to the MSS which had been copied under al-Jabartī's own supervision. Al-Jabartī checked these copies himself, writing his corrections on the margins. Especially noteworthy is a manuscript in Maghribī script which was checked by the author and belonged to his friend Ḥasan al-ʿAṭṭar. Al-ʿAṭṭar took this MS with him on his travels, adding a variety of materials, some inspired by al-Jabartī himself. Al-ʿAṭṭar's material has been used in the present edition. Moreh has restored as far as possible the original grammatical usage and style of al-Jabartī, and his text includes passages omitted from the Būlāq edition. The readings given on the margins of the present edition indicate the revisions that al-Jabartī made to his opus magnum as a result of changing political circumstances in Egypt.