The Book of Charlatans

Zusatztext

<p><b>Uncovering the professional secrets of con artists and swindlers in the medieval Middle East</b><br><br><i>The Book of Charlatans</i> 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. Al-Jawbar was well versed in the practices he describes and may have been a reformed charlatan himself. Divided into thirty chapters, the 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.<br><br> The material is informed in part by the authors 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,<i>The Book of Charlatans</i> opens a fascinating window into a subculture of beggars guilds and professional con artists in the medieval Arab world.<br><br>An English-only edition.</p>

Autorenportrait

<b>Jaml al-Dn Abd al-Ram al-Jawbar (Author)</b><br><b>Jaml al-Dn Abd al-Ram al-Jawbar</b> (fl. early seventh/thirteenth century) was born in the Ghouta region near Damascus. He was the author of three texts, of which only<i>The Book of Charlatans</i> survives.<br><br><b>S. A. Chakraborty (Foreword by)</b><br><b>S. A. Chakraborty</b> is a speculative fiction writer from New York City. Her debut,<i>The City of Brass</i>, was short-listed for the Locus, British Fantasy, and World Fantasy awards.<br><br><b>Humphrey Davies (Translator)</b><br><b> Humphrey Davies</b> is an award-winning translator of some twenty-five works of modern Arabic literature, among them Alaa Al-Aswanys<i>The Yacoubian Building</i>, five novels by Elias Khoury, including<i>Gate of the Sun</i>, and Amad Fris al-Shidyqs<i>Leg over Leg</i>. He has also made a critical edition, translation, and lexicon of the Ottoman-period<i>Brains Confounded by the Ode of Ab Shdf Expounded</i> by Ysuf al-Shirbn, as well as editions and translations of al-Tniss<i>In Darfur</i>and al-Sanhrs<i>Risible Rhymes</i>from the same era. In addition, he has<i></i>compiled with Madiha Doss an anthology in Arabic entitled<i>Al-mmiyyah al-miriyyah al-maktbah: mukhtrt min 1400 il 2009</i> (<i>Egyptian Colloquial Writing: selections from 1400 to 2009</i>) and co-authored, with Lesley Lababidi,<i>A Field Guide to the Street Names of Central Cairo</i>. He read Arabic at the University of Cambridge, received his Ph.D. from the University of California at Berkeley, and previous to undertaking his first translation in 2003, worked for social development and research organizations in Egypt, Tunisia, Palestine, and Sudan. He is affiliated with the American University in Cairo.<br><br>

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