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PRESENTATION
Maribel Fierro
1. History of a project: the intellectual output in al-Andalus
At the beginnng of the 1980s, a group of researchers interested in biographical and
bibliographical literature from al-Andalus, consisting of María Luisa Ávila, Maribel Fierro,
Manuela Marín and Luis Molina, came together in the Departamento de Estudios Árabes of the
Instituto de Filología of the CSIC (as the former Instituto Miguel Asín came to be called in
1985). We planned several research projects for the purpose of studying and exploiting the
2
material found in Arabic bio-bibliographical dictionaries. Those projects, directed by M. L.
Ávila, L. Molina and M. Marín, were carried out at the Escuela de Estudios Árabes (CSIC) in
Granada and the Instituto de Filología (which later became the Instituto de Lenguas y Culturas
del Mediterráneo-CSIC) in Madrid. Among their results is the series Estudios onomástico-
bibliográficos de al-Andalus, initiated in 1988, of which 18 volumes have appeared to date.
In 1987, the Al-Andalus ‘92 Working Group authorized the research project La
producción intelectual en al-Andalus, which functioned under the direction of Maribel Fierro
from 1988 to 1994. Its two principal objectives were the publication of an Historia de los
Autores y Transmisores Andalusíes (History of the Authors and Transmitters of al-Andalus =
HATA) and the creation of a microfilm archive of manuscript works by Andalusi authors.
The group decided that the best home for the archive would be the Biblioteca Islámica
Félix María Pareja at the former Instituto de Cooperación con el Mundo Árabe, which has since
ceased to exist (although the library remains active within the Agencia Española de Cooperación
3
Internacional [AECI]). Thanks to the interest and efficiency of its then head librarian, Felisa
4
Sastre, microfilms of some works were obtained, as reported in the former Cuadernos de la
2 J. M. Fórneas (1926-2003) was a pioneer in this field: see his review of publications by the French project
Onomasticon Arabicum in BAEO 8 (1972), pp. 275-77, and the biography of him by Celia del Moral in MEAH 52
(2003), pp. 275-86. M. J. Rubiera (1942-2009), a specialist in Andalusi literature, had planned to develop a Corpus
historiográfico y crítico-literario de la literatura hispano-árabe, but that project never came to fruition.
3 http://www.aecid.es/ES/biblioteca/un-poco-de-historia/biblioteca-isl%C3%A1mica-formaci%C3%B3n-y-donativos
4 For example: Bibliothèque-Musée d’Alger, 721, 1072, 1332, 1557, 1729, 1876; Leiden University Library, Or.
506, 955, 2422; British Library, 9449; King Faisal Foundation, 888; Berlin, Pm. 236, 464; India Office, 26A;
Leningrad, Inst. Or., B 977.
PRESENTATION
Maribel Fierro
1. History of a project: the intellectual output in al-Andalus
At the beginnng of the 1980s, a group of researchers interested in biographical and
bibliographical literature from al-Andalus, consisting of María Luisa Ávila, Maribel Fierro,
Manuela Marín and Luis Molina, came together in the Departamento de Estudios Árabes of the
Instituto de Filología of the CSIC (as the former Instituto Miguel Asín came to be called in
1985). We planned several research projects for the purpose of studying and exploiting the
2
material found in Arabic bio-bibliographical dictionaries. Those projects, directed by M. L.
Ávila, L. Molina and M. Marín, were carried out at the Escuela de Estudios Árabes (CSIC) in
Granada and the Instituto de Filología (which later became the Instituto de Lenguas y Culturas
del Mediterráneo-CSIC) in Madrid. Among their results is the series Estudios onomástico-
bibliográficos de al-Andalus, initiated in 1988, of which 18 volumes have appeared to date.
In 1987, the Al-Andalus ‘92 Working Group authorized the research project La
producción intelectual en al-Andalus, which functioned under the direction of Maribel Fierro
from 1988 to 1994. Its two principal objectives were the publication of an Historia de los
Autores y Transmisores Andalusíes (History of the Authors and Transmitters of al-Andalus =
HATA) and the creation of a microfilm archive of manuscript works by Andalusi authors.
The group decided that the best home for the archive would be the Biblioteca Islámica
Félix María Pareja at the former Instituto de Cooperación con el Mundo Árabe, which has since
ceased to exist (although the library remains active within the Agencia Española de Cooperación
3
Internacional [AECI]). Thanks to the interest and efficiency of its then head librarian, Felisa
4
Sastre, microfilms of some works were obtained, as reported in the former Cuadernos de la
2 J. M. Fórneas (1926-2003) was a pioneer in this field: see his review of publications by the French project
Onomasticon Arabicum in BAEO 8 (1972), pp. 275-77, and the biography of him by Celia del Moral in MEAH 52
(2003), pp. 275-86. M. J. Rubiera (1942-2009), a specialist in Andalusi literature, had planned to develop a Corpus
historiográfico y crítico-literario de la literatura hispano-árabe, but that project never came to fruition.
3 http://www.aecid.es/ES/biblioteca/un-poco-de-historia/biblioteca-isl%C3%A1mica-formaci%C3%B3n-y-donativos
4 For example: Bibliothèque-Musée d’Alger, 721, 1072, 1332, 1557, 1729, 1876; Leiden University Library, Or.
506, 955, 2422; British Library, 9449; King Faisal Foundation, 888; Berlin, Pm. 236, 464; India Office, 26A;
Leningrad, Inst. Or., B 977.
