| The Book of Charlatans Contributor(s): Al-Jawbarī, Jamāl Al-Dīn (Author), Dengler, Manuela (Editor), Davies, Humphrey (Translator) |
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ISBN: 1479897639 ISBN-13: 9781479897636 Publisher: New York University Press OUR PRICE: $33.25 Product Type: Hardcover - Other Formats Published: December 2020 |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Literary Collections | Middle Eastern - History | Middle East - General - True Crime |
| Dewey: 364.163 |
| LCCN: 2020017851 |
| Physical Information: 2" H x 6.2" W x 9.1" (2.00 lbs) 528 pages |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: Uncovering the professional secrets of con artists and swindlers in the medieval Middle East The Book of Charlatans is a comprehensive guide to trickery and scams as practiced in the thirteenth century in the cities of the Middle East, especially in Syria and Egypt. The author, al-Jawbarī, was well versed in the practices he describes and may well have been a reformed charlatan himself. Divided into thirty chapters, his book reveals the secrets of everyone from "Those Who Claim to be Prophets" to "Those Who Claim to Have Leprosy" and "Those Who Dye Horses." The material is informed in part by the author's own experience with alchemy, astrology, and geomancy, and in part by his extensive research. The work is unique in its systematic, detailed, and inclusive approach to a subject that is by nature arcane and that has relevance not only for social history but also for the history of science. Covering everything from invisible writing to doctoring gemstones and quack medicine, The Book of Charlatans opens a fascinating window into a subculture of beggars' guilds and professional con artists in the medieval Arab world. A bilingual Arabic-English edition. |