{"product_id":"the-ultimate-ambition-in-the-arts-of-erudition-paperback-by-shihab-al-din-al-nuwayri-edited-translated-and-with-an-introduction-and-notesby-elias-muhanna","title":"The Ultimate Ambition in the Arts of Erudition Paperback by Shihab al-Din al-Nuwayri; Edited, Translated, and with an Introduction and Notesby Elias Muhanna","description":"\u003cbody\u003e\n                            \n                                \n                                    \u003ch2\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eProduct Details\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/h2\u003e\n                                    \u003cul\u003e\n                                        \u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublisher\u003c\/strong\u003e: \u003cb\u003ePenguin Classics\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cb\u003e(2016-08-30)\u003c\/b\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n                                        \u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eLanguage\u003c\/strong\u003e: \u003cstrong\u003eEnglish\u003c\/strong\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n                                        \u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePaperback\u003c\/strong\u003e: \u003cstrong\u003e352\u003c\/strong\u003e \u003cb\u003epages\u003c\/b\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n                                        \u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eISBN-13\u003c\/strong\u003e: \u003cstrong\u003e9780143107484\u003c\/strong\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n                                        \u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eItem Weight\u003c\/strong\u003e: \u003cstrong\u003e249.48\u003c\/strong\u003e \u003cb\u003egrams\u003c\/b\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n                                        \u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions\u003c\/strong\u003e: \u003cstrong\u003e7.75 x 5.07 x 0.61\u003c\/strong\u003e \u003cb\u003ecm\u003c\/b\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n                                    \u003c\/ul\u003e\n                                    \u003cbr\u003e\n                                    \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eFor the first time in English, a catalog of the world through fourteenth-century Arab eyes—a kind of \u003ci\u003eSchott’s Miscellany \u003c\/i\u003efor the Islamic Golden Age\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e An astonishing record of the knowledge of a civilization, \u003ci\u003eThe Ultimate Ambition in the Arts of Erudition\u003c\/i\u003e catalogs everything known to exist from the perspective of a fourteenth-century Egyptian scholar and litterateur. More than 9,000 pages and thirty volumes—here abridged to one volume, and translated into English for the first time—it contains entries on everything from medieval moon-worshipping cults, sexual aphrodisiacs, and the substance of clouds, to how to get the smell of alcohol off one’s breath, the deliciousness of cheese made from buffalo milk, and the nesting habits of flamingos.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e Similar works by Western authors, including Pliny’s \u003ci\u003eNatural History \u003c\/i\u003eand Diderot’s \u003ci\u003eEncyclopédie, \u003c\/i\u003ehave been available in English for centuries. This groundbreaking translation of a remarkable Arabic text—expertly abridged and annotated—offers a look at the world through the highly literary and impressively knowledgeable societies of the classical Islamic world. Meticulously arranged and delightfully eclectic, it is a compendium to be treasured—a true monument of erudition.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFor more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.\u003c\/p\u003e\n                                    \u003ch3\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n                                    \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eShihab al-Din al-Nuwayri\u003c\/b\u003e (1279–1333) was an Egyptian scholar and civil servant in the Mamluk Empire. His nine-thousand-page, thirty-three-volume encyclopedia, \u003ci\u003eThe Ultimate Ambition in the Arts of Erudition,\u003c\/i\u003e is one of the most important medieval collections of Arabic literature and Islamic thought.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003eElias Muhanna\u003c\/b\u003e (editor\/translator) is the Manning Assistant Professor of Comparative Literature at Brown University and the author of \u003ci\u003eThe World in a Book: Al-Nuwayri and the Islamic Encyclopedic Tradition.\u003c\/i\u003e A scholar of classical Arabic literature and Islamic intellectual history, he has written for \u003ci\u003eThe\u003c\/i\u003e \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe\u003c\/i\u003e \u003ci\u003eNew Yorker\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe Nation\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eForeign Policy, \u003c\/i\u003eand he runs the blog \u003ci\u003eQifa Nabki\u003c\/i\u003e, about the contemporary Middle East. Born in Lebanon, he now lives in Providence, Rhode Island.\u003c\/p\u003e\n                                \n                            \n                            \u003c\/body\u003e","brand":"Best Bookstore","offers":[{"title":"New","offer_id":44900629741729,"sku":"BBSNIJ9780143107484","price":25.0,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0525\/2084\/5473\/files\/9780143107484.jpg?v=1744355230","url":"https:\/\/www.bestbookstore.ca\/products\/the-ultimate-ambition-in-the-arts-of-erudition-paperback-by-shihab-al-din-al-nuwayri-edited-translated-and-with-an-introduction-and-notesby-elias-muhanna","provider":"Best Book Store","version":"1.0","type":"link"}