Anonymous Manuscript Research Articles

«Сказание о хождении в Тибет пандита-хамбо-ламы Заяева из цонгольского рода» как источник по истории буддизма

The history of Buddhism and the initial period of its spread in Transbaikalia in the XVII-XVIII centuries are insufficiently studied due to the lack of archival materials and sources, while the surviving historical records provide different information about some events, such as the year of construction of the first Buddhist temple and the first sermon, the years of D.-D. Zayaev's life. The earliest extant sources are "Autobiography" and "Travel Notes" written by D.-D. Zayaev in 1768. They contain valuable information not only about the history of Buryat Buddhism, but also about the life and activities of D.-D. Zayaev (1711-1776), the first Buryat pandita Khambo-Lama, whose name is associated with the beginning of the spread of Buddhism among the Buryats and its institutionalization in the Russian Empire, but also with the description of his pilgrimage to Tibet. In this regard, in order to clarify some dates on the early history of Buryat Buddhism, texts related to him have been searched for and analyzed in the funds of the Center of Oriental Manuscripts and Xylographs (CVRK) of the Institute for Mongolian, Buddhist and Tibetan Studies of the Siberian Branch of the RAS. It was established that of the six sources found, the most informative work is "The Legend of the Tsongol Kin Pandita Khambo-Lama Zayaev's Journey to Tibet" in the Old Mongolian script, stored in the Mongolian collection of the CVRK. As a result of the study, it was revealed that this work is a late manuscript consisting of the "Travel Notes", the Biography of D.-D. Zayaev and of an anonymous manuscript containing a brief description of Buddhist sacred places and shrines in India, Nepal, Tibet and Mongolia, what has determined its structure consisting of 3 parts. It was found out that this manuscript contains information about the socio-economic situation of the population of Tibet and neighboring countries, as well as information about the history of Buddhism in Transbaikal region in the middle of the XVIII century. It testifies to Russia's geopolitical interests in this region of Inner Asia and the peoples living there, as the author reports, saying that it was written at the behest of Catherine II, who outlined a range of issues: "to describe what I’ve seen on my way to Tibet, the length of the road and distance, as well as about the customs and habits of people". The unique historical information preserved by the Buryat pilgrim and the Russian citizen D.-D. Zayaev is also relevant for conducting comparative studies of the phenomenon of modern pilgrimage that is becoming popular not only for believers but among ordinary lay population.

«Мунтахаб ат-тауарих-и Муʻини» жадуалы мен «Topkapı Sarayı Müzesi Kütüphanesi, B. 411» қолжазбасындағы Жошы туралы мәліметтер

The article analyzes information about Jochi, the eldest son of Chinngis Khan, contained in two medieval Persian-language works, in the jadwal ([dynasty] table) Muntakhab al-Tawārīkh-i Mu‘īnī and the anonymous manuscript B.411 from the collection of the Topkapi Palace Museum Library (Topkapı Sarayı Müzesi Kütüphanesi, B. 411). Both works are attributed to the same author of Timurid times. The history of the study is given, a brief and comparative description of both works and their information, commented fragments about Jochi translated from Persian are published. Information from fragments of these works that have not previously been translated into Russian, introduced into scientific circulation, contains interesting examples of the perception of the history of the Ulus of Jochi in Timurid sources of the 15th century. Their further analysis will contribute to the understanding and characterization of the historical significance of Muntakhab al-Tawārīkh-i Mu‘īnī and Topkapı Sarayı Müzesi Kütüphanesi, B. 411. The article points out obvious historical errors, confusion and anachronisms in the published information from these works. At the same time, they are of significant source study and historiographical interest. The article is accompanied by the publication of photocopies of the relevant fragments in Persian

Cracking double-blind review: Authorship attribution with deep learning.

Double-blind peer review is considered a pillar of academic research because it is perceived to ensure a fair, unbiased, and fact-centered scientific discussion. Yet, experienced researchers can often correctly guess from which research group an anonymous submission originates, biasing the peer-review process. In this work, we present a transformer-based, neural-network architecture that only uses the text content and the author names in the bibliography to attribute an anonymous manuscript to an author. To train and evaluate our method, we created the largest authorship-identification dataset to date. It leverages all research papers publicly available on arXiv amounting to over 2 million manuscripts. In arXiv-subsets with up to 2,000 different authors, our method achieves an unprecedented authorship attribution accuracy, where up to 73% of papers are attributed correctly. We present a scaling analysis to highlight the applicability of the proposed method to even larger datasets when sufficient compute capabilities are more widely available to the academic community. Furthermore, we analyze the attribution accuracy in settings where the goal is to identify all authors of an anonymous manuscript. Thanks to our method, we are not only able to predict the author of an anonymous work but we also provide empirical evidence of the key aspects that make a paper attributable. We have open-sourced the necessary tools to reproduce our experiments.

The Life of Mary Anning, Fossil Collector of Lyme Regis: a Contemporary Biographical Memoir by George Roberts

Despite the modern celebrity of the fossil collector Mary Anning (1799–1847) of Lyme Regis and her frequent use as an icon in scientific education and popularization, there are few accounts of her life by her contemporaries. We report here a previously unpublished anonymous manuscript memoir of Anning's life, in the Special Collections of the University of Bristol Library. Evidence from textual analysis and handwriting corroborates its attribution to George Roberts (bap. 1804–60) of Lyme Regis, schoolmaster and historian. He wrote it at some time during 1837–47, perhaps 1839–47, by adapting a passage in his 1834 history of Lyme Regis. It was apparently intended for a new book, but was altered into an obituary after Anning's death. Evidence is presented that Roberts wrote the obituary of Anning in the Athenæum , which was widely republished in newspapers. Henry De la Beche (1796–1855) published another obituary in the Proceedings of the Geological Society . Roberts helped him to obtain information from Anning's family, but did not use this new information in his manuscript. Benjamin J.M. Donne (1831–1928), a former pupil of Roberts, painted the Society's portrait of Anning. A claim that it was commissioned by a group, mostly Fellows of the Society, remains unconfirmed.

О принципе составления канона Ямвлиха

Iamblichus of Chalcis, one of the most prominent Neoplatonists of the third – fourth cen­turies AD, introduced a list of twelve principal Plato’s dialogues that should have been com­pulsory studied by his disciples. This list was called the Canon of Iamblichus. However, the survived Iamblichus’ writings contain no information on the Canon; and later Neopla­tonists provide very scant mentions on the subject. It is the sole anonymous manuscript of the sixth century that counts twelve dialogues in the Canon and lists each of them match­ing with the hierarchy of virtues. Nonetheless, Iamblichus seems to be less interested in the doctrine of virtues. Moreover, given the hierarchic order of virtues, one cannot ex­plain why ‘political’ virtues correspond to the Gorgias and not to the Statesman or the Re­public. To discover the reason for selection of particular Plato’s dialogues for the Canon, I analyzed the general assessments of the dialogues by later Neoplatonists. The analysis re­veals that every of the first ten dialogues contains a particular mythological story with a featured character, who plays the role of a Demiurge. The collected evidence argues that the principal selection criterion for Iamblichus was the mythologic kernel of each dialogue. Moreover, Iamblichus’ Canon presupposes that the first ten dialogues form a common mythological narrative, a kind of an integral meta-myth of Plato’s philosophy.

Motywy ukraińskie w polskiej muzyce gitarowej XIX wieku

The elements of Ukrainian folk music have appeared in Polish guitar music at the early 19th century, both in music The elements of Ukrainian folk music have appeared in Polish guitar music at the early 19th century, both in music for English guitar tuned in G major (sources for this instrument appeared chronologically first) and for 6-string Spanish guitar. Composers have used stylized dances, mainly kozachok, for composing simple technical arrangements intended for domestic parlour music. Apart from four anonymous manuscripts for English guitar there are two anonymous kozachoks in manuscripts from the National Library of Poland in Warsaw and the Princes Czartoryski Library in Krakow and one kozachok in manuscripts from the National Library of Poland in Warsaw and the Princes Czartoryski Library in Krakow and one kozachok by Eduard Salle neuve. Also another form – duma / dumka – is popular among the19th century Polish guitarists; it has appeared both in the solo and in the original version, intended for vocal with accompaniment. The authors of dumki are, among others Jan Rywacki, and anonymous dumas are preserved in the Jasna Góra Monastery (Library of the Pauline Fathers in Częstochowa), the Jagiellonian Library in Krakow and in mentioned Princes Czartoryski Library. Solo improvised dumkas have been performed by the greatest Polish 19th century virtuosos – Stanisław Szczepanowski and Marek Konrad Sokołowski, as evidenced by extensive press coverage. Three composers – Jan Nepomucen Bobrowicz, Felix Horetzky and the less known Cyprian Leonowicz – also used the Ukrainian folk melodies, mainly as a basis for virtuoso sets of variations. Leonowicz’s piece, which is a kind of written improvisation, is based on the famous song Ikhav Kozak za Dunaj. The melody used by Bobrowicz is more difficult to identify, although the title of the piece indicates the Ukrainian element – Air d’Ukraine varié. Horecki arranged two melodies, including the song Ikhav Kozak za Dunaj, in technically simple arrangements. The Ukrainian thread also appears in the biographies of some 19th century Polish guitarists, including Sokołowski,Numa Łepkowski and Karol de Wyhowski. This article shows that Ukrainian folklore was the strongest foreign element in Polish guitar music of the 19th century. Areas requiring further research are also indicated – related to little-known sources(such as guitar manuscripts from Jasna Góra, the Jagiellonian Library or from the collection of Oskar Kolberg), as well as those concerning Ukrainian guitar music from the 19th century, practically unknown outside Ukraine.

Анонимная рукопись «История Крыма» (B 747) из собрания Института восточных рукописей РАН: атрибуция источника

Research objectives: Attribution and description of the anonymous manuscript, conventionally named “History of Crimea”, from the collection of the Institute of Oriental Manuscripts of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Research materials: Anonymous manuscript “History of Crimea”, kept in the collection of the Institute of Oriental Manuscripts of the Russian Academy of Sciences under the signature B 747. Results and novelty of research: The manuscript is a miscellany of various information about the Crimean Khanate, as well international relations, mainly between Russia and Turkey. In 1881, its Ottoman-Turkish text in Arabic script was published by the famous Russian researcher Vasiliy D. Smirnov (1846–1922), on the basis of the St. Petersburg copy, with corrections made according to the copy kept in Paris. V.D. Smirnov made several assumptions on who was the author of the text. The analysis showed the correctness of one of his assumptions, namely that the author – compiler of the text was Kesbî, the Turkish official from the second half of the eighteenth century. The identification of the author became possible due to the appearance of studies on the written heritage of Kesbi in recent decades, primarily the works of A. Ogreten. The comparison of B 747 with the text of “İbretnüma-yı devlet” (“Instruction to the State”, 1213 AH (1798–99 CE)) published by Ahmet Öğreten in 2002, leaves no doubt that the “History of Crimea” is the St. Petersburg copy of the aforesaid manuscript. In recent years, new hypotheses also appeared concerning the author, disputing the opinion of A. Öğreten and aiming to show that the miscellany was compiled not by Mustafa Kesbî, but by another Ottoman official, who wrote under the pseudonym Kesbî, Mehmed Haşim. At the same time, the text of the St. Petersburg copy of “İbretnüma-yı devlet” published by V.D. Smirnov 140 years ago, as well as the copy of the manuscript kept in Paris, still remains out of sight of Turkish specialists engaged in the study of this written text.

Amateurismo poético peninsular en torno a 1700: el encuentro de Manuel de Sousa Moreira y Gabriel Álvarez de Toledo a la luz de sus vidas, sus redes y sus versos

Gabriel Álvarez de Toledo wrote a romance praising an allegorical fable of Prometheus written by the portuguese Manuel de Sousa Moreira. This fable was known in Spain only through the anonymous manuscript Eccos de la musa transmontana. Prometheus, which could be found in the National Library. This study analises the biographical trajectories, social networks and these authors’ works to establish the similarities and ways of contact that could lead to their poetic dialogue. By focusing on these amateur poets, who moved in major literate circles, participated in gatherings and academies and established patronage relationships with noblemen of great political and cultural relevance —Marquis of Távora, Count of Ericeira, cardinal Luis de Sousa, Duke of Montellano…—, the study delves into their profiles while revealing a broad panorama Spanish-Portuguese relations in the final decades of the 17th century and the first half of the 18th.

Siyah Sancaklı Mehdî: Mehdî İnancı Perspektifinden Ahbâru’l-Abbâs’a Yakından Bakış

The Mahdī belief had reappeared during the ʿAbbāsid Revolution as a provocative force for the masses not long after its spread in Islamic society. For this reason, in many studies on the revolution, how and in what way this belief was utilized have been discussed. The ʿAbbāsids exploited expectation of saviour, which was identified as the Mahdī belief, to legitimize themselves in the caliphate even after the revolution succeeded. Thus, in the Akhbār al-ʿAbbās, which is considered the semi-official history of the ʿAbbāsid Revolution, there are many riwāyas emphasizing that the ʿAbbāsids are the expected saviours. Akhbār al-ʿAbbās is an anonymous manuscript which provides essential information about the revolution and therefore probably had been written by someone close to the ʿAbbāsid family. After the publication by ʿAbd al-Aziz Dūrī and A. J. al-Muttalibī in 1971, the manuscript became known as Akhbār al-ʿAbbās, and Akhbār in short. There are many riwāyas in this source which emphasize that the ʿAbbāsids are the expected saviours. These riwāyas are mostly presented with narratives about the appearance of black banners. Although the riwāyas in the manuscript have been discussed to shed light on various aspects of the revolution in the studies which investigate or reference this source, there is no study emphasizing that there is a direct relationship between these riwāyas and Mahdi belief. Moreover, the riwāyas in the source have not been examined in detail. There are two topics which need to be focused on when reviewing the literature. Of these two, the more important is the Akhbār. Studies on this newly discovered source have been about the ʿAbbāsid Revolution and, recently, on the historiographical value and authenticity of the source. The other focus of these studies is the Mahdī belief and its importance for the revolution, which has been studied for more than a century. Gerlof Van Vloten’s book can be regarded as the primary work to reveal some important challenges for the Mahdī belief and its effect on the ʿAbbāsid Revolution. However, Van Vloten did not refer to Akhbār because the manuscript had not been discovered yet when he published his study at the end of the 19th century. This article was written to discuss the influence of the Mahdī (saviour or deliverer) belief in the ʿAbbāsid Revolution through riwāyas on black banners. It points out the riwāyas of the black banners in the Akhbār by associating them with the Mahdī belief. For this reason, the title “Mahdī with Black Banners” was chosen for this article. Modern historians believe that this belief had become widespread in the Islamic society gradually and thus was influential in the ʿAbbāsid movement; however, the available sources were not enough to support this claim sufficiently. In this study, firstly the Mahdī belief will be explained. Then the importance of Mahdī belief during the ʿAbbāsid movement will be discussed. And finally, the riwāyas related to this belief in the Akhbār will be examined in more detail compared to the similar studies. In conclusion, the article argues that despite the minority of the direct riwāyas on the Mahdī belief, there are many riwāyas in Akhbār about the black banners. Thus, it can be said that the ʿAbbāsids took advantage of Mahdī belief for the success of the revolution and to gain legitimacy afterwards. However, this belief was not only Mahdī but Mahdī with a black banner.

Tu, felix Salomon, nube: Solomon’s Marriages in Early Christian and East Syrian Biblical Interpretation

Abstract This article explores the political portrayal of Solomon’s marriages presented by three East Syrian authors. It will be shown that whereas Jewish and early Christian interpreters often pointed to desire and demonic influence to explain Solomon’s many marriages, Theodore bar Koni, Ishoʿdad of Merv and the commentators of the anonymous manuscript olim Diyarbakır 22 instead portrayed the marriages as a form of nuptial politics intended to provide peace. The article examines the role of this political motif against the background of Theodore of Mopsuestia’s views on Solomon and the Song of Songs. It will be argued that the ways in which the East Syrian authors evaluated Solomon’s marriages are related to their different attitudes to the Song. The article illustrates how Greek exegesis could be transmitted and transformed in the East Syrian tradition of scriptural interpretation.

The plays with the axe in armour of the Anonimo Bolognese (1510-1515)

This contribution examines an anonymous text (Di Accia armato di tutt’arme ) addressing the handling of the axe for armoured combat, compiled in a two-volume anonymous manuscript collection of the beginning of the 16th c. This collection is of particular interest since it predates the “classical” authors of the Bolognese school of the 16th c. and marks a turning point from an earlier late Medieval tradition. Moreover the inclusion of a text dedicated to armour fighting is equally interesting since this kind of combat tends to fade away from the technical register of the next Bolognese authors. The manuscript is shortly described and the text is presented in a diplomatic edition, with a translation and a reproduction of the manuscript in appendices. The content is described and analysed from a technical and a historical point of view, allowing comparison with other similar treatises, identification of the arms and armour, and discussion of the context of application.

The Performance Practice of Organ-Playing in 17th Century France According to the Anonymous Manuscript Manière de toucher l’orgue (c.1670-1685)

Praktyka wykonawcza francuskiej muzyki organowej XVII wieku według anonimowego rękopisu Manière de toucher l’orgue (ok. 1670-1685)
 Niniejszy artykuł dotyczy praktyki wykonawczej francuskiej muzyki organowej XVII wieku. Punktem wyjścia do poszukiwań w tym zakresie jest anonimowy rękopis Manière de toucher l’orgue dans toute la propreté et la délicatesse qui est en usage aujourd’hui à Paris (Maniery wykonawcze w grze na organach z uwzględnieniem stylu i subtelności stosowanych obecnie w Paryżu) przechowywany w Bibliothèque de l’Arsenal, Paris (ms. 3042, fol. 100-119). Manuskrypt ten został spisany w latach 1670-1685 przez dwóch nieznanych dziś z nazwiska autorów działających w środowisku paryskich organistów liturgicznych. Największą wartością tego źródła są informacje dotyczące nowych tendencji w grze organowej, jakie pojawiły się w tym mieście pod koniec XVII stulecia. Artykuł ten jest kontynuacją badań podjętych przez Williama Pruitta, który w roku 1986 dokonał krótkiej analizy rękopisu, zogniskowanej jednak na aspektach czysto faktograficznych. W niniejszym artykule, wykorzystującym metodę hermeneutyczno-muzyczną, zagadnienia wykonawcze omówione w Manière de toucher l’orgue zostały osadzone i zreinterpretowane w znacznie szerszym kontekście.

An addition to the corpus of maps by José Joaquim da Rocha (c. 1740-1807)

The purpose of this short article is simple: to attribute an anonymous manuscript map of the Colonia de Sacramento, a territory north of the río de la Plata, that had been contended between the Spanish and Portuguese empires, kept in the Biblioteca Pública Municipal do Porto, to the cartographer José Joaquim da Rocha (c. 1740-1807). The argument will be based on iconographic evidence, as no record about the map’s history is available. The analysis of the map will shed light on Rocha’s cartographic practices, and the attribution of the map to Rocha will shed new light on his career.

The ‘Couperin chord’

Abstract In 2016 Christophe Rousset identified an anonymous manuscript cantata entitled Ariane consolée par Bacchus as being the cantata Ariane abandonnée par Thésée attributed to Couperin by Titon du Tillet in Le Parnasse françois (1732). Rousset and I subsequently edited this cantata for the Éditions du Centre de musique baroque de Versailles. Over and above stylistic and other considerations, support for Couperin’s authorship is provided by certain idiosyncrasies in the basso continuo figurings, such as the well-known use of the 2 (‘seconde supérieure’) instead of the 9, and, most important, the use of what I call the ‘Couperin chord’: 7/5/2 on the degree IV. The current article supports this attribution by showing that Couperin used this chord very frequently in his organ and harpsichord pieces, as well as in his continuo figuring. Because he is the only French composer to use this chord systematically, it is possible to attribute anonymous pieces to him on the grounds of this single chord.

Аталычество в Крыму (по материалам руко­писи анонимного сборника из собрания Института восточных рукописей РАН)

Аталычество в Крыму (по материалам руко­писи анонимного сборника из собрания Института восточных рукописей РАН)

Old Believer Letters of Request and Thanks during the Imperial Period

This article analyses Old Believer letters from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries containing requests for financial or other assistance and expressing gratitude for it. The letters originate from various Old Believer settlements (sketes and hermitages) in Northern Russia. The author mostly focuses on letters from the Vyg and Leksa community, the largest Old Believer centre of Russia between the eighteenth and the first half of the nineteenth centuries. The letters are analysed both as historical sources and literary works. They are of historical value because they contain information on little-known Old Believer hermitages, the number of monks in them, and the connection of the hermitages with other centres of Old Belief. The letters contain Old Believer writers’ names and autographs. This means that samples of their handwriting can be used to attribute anonymous manuscripts. Letters of request were part of record books that the representatives of Old Believer hermitages took with them when they went to collect donations. The article cites persecution of this activity by the authorities. Also, it considers the literary aspect of the letters, for instance, how the authors used quotations on mercy and compassion from biblical and patristic texts and how they applied the form of the parable and employed a self-deprecating vocabulary. The author concludes that the Vyg Old Believer letters fully correspond to the principles of the Vyg rhetorical school.

Attribution of the manuscript of The Life of Peter the Great and specifics of the Slavonic-Serbian language in the works of Zaharij Orfelin

The article analyses the problem of the authorship of an anonymous manuscript on the history of Russia in the time of Peter the Great, which today is part of the library of the Institute of East European History at the University of Vienna. The hypothesis proposed is that this is the first part of the work of the famous Serbian enlightener Zaharija Orfelin, The Life and Glorious Deeds of Peter the Great, and a further assumption is given on where the second part of the manuscript may be located. The literary language in Orfelin’s work is a vivid manifestation of the so-called “Slavonic-Serbian” language. Attention is drawn to the use by Orfelin of different language systems in different literary genres - for example, The Life of Peter was written in the “Slavonic-Serbian” language, poetry was mainly in Serbian, and political treatises, such as Representation, were written in German. Orfelin paid particular attention to the development of school education and within a short time published a number of textbooks for Serbian children: in 1766, the Latin ABC Book with a short dictionary translated into the Slavonic-Serbian language was published, followed a year later by First elements of the Latin language containing Latin grammar and didactic dialogues, and in 1767 by the ABC of the “Slavonic [slavenskij] language”, which was the first Serbian alphabet and used in primary schools in Serbia until the end of the nineteenth century. Of interest are Orfelin’s less studied contacts with other representatives of the Revival among southern Slavs. The conclusion illustrates Orphelin’s attitude to the reforms of Maria Theresa in the field of religion and education.

The Fundamenta compositionis Jean Kuhnaus 1703. Edition, Translation, and Commentary

Until now, scholars have generally doubted whether Johann Kuhnau, J. S. Bach’s predecessor as Thomaskantor in Leipzig, was indeed the author of the manuscript treatise, Fundamenta Compositionis Jean Kuhnaus 1703. Nevertheless the Fundamenta appears to originate from the Thomasschule around 1700, suggesting that it may stem from Kuhnau’s broader circle. Moreover, recent research has revealed concordances between the Fundamenta and an anonymous manuscript titled Kurtze Verfasung (“Brief Instruction”), in addition to a number of other sources. Thus, regardless of who compiled the Fundamenta, this manuscript is significant because it reveals the pedagogical priorities, or “fundamentals” (according to the title), that often lie buried in more discursive, theoretical treatises. Therefore the ultimate value of the Fundamenta is not its originality, but rather its explication of topics such as consonance and dissonance, modes, clausulae, cadences, invertible counterpoint, and fugue in a highly condensed, practical manner with numerous musical examples. The Fundamenta is thus an excellent resource for historically informed analysis and composition at the turn of the eighteenth century, before thoroughbass accompaniment displaced vocal polyphony as the dominant pedagogical paradigm in compositional instruction. Part one of this article explores the Fundamenta’s provenance in detail; part two provides a transcription and English translation.

Forging Communities: Food and Representation in Medieval and Early Modern Southwestern Europe ed. by Montserrat Piera

Reviewed by: Forging Communities: Food and Representation in Medieval and Early Modern Southwestern Europe ed. by Montserrat Piera Michael O’Brien Keywords history of the language, Historical Romance, Old Spanish, medieval Castilian, materialist hermeneutics, history of the book, translation, material culture, novela sentimental, Cárcel de amor, Catalan Literature, Crown of Aragon, Occitan, Spanish Empire, poetry, Classical Reception, Dante, Mediterranean Studies, Food Studies, Galen, ballads, María de Zayas, Aljamiado, Mudéjar, pilgrimage Piera, Montserrat, editor. Forging Communities: Food and Representation in Medieval and Early Modern Southwestern Europe. U of Arkansas P, 2018. ISBN: 978-1-68226-068-5. Forging Communities contains thirteen chapters by multiple authors, including an introduction and postscript by the editor, Montserrat Piera. The work is divided into three distinct sections: “Part I: Connections and Transitions in Muslim, Hebrew, and Christian Communities” (chapters 1–4), “Part II: Food Choices: Ideals and Practices in Monastic and Lay Communities” (chapters 5–9), and “Part III: Food as Fetish: Gendering Sexual Desire through Food” (chapters 10–13). In chapter 1, “From Kitāb al-tabīj to the Llibre de Sent Soví: Continuities and Shifts in the Earliest Iberian Cooking Manuals,” Carolyn A. Nadeau compares the anonymous fourteenth-century Catalan cookbook, Llibre de Sent Soví, with two Arabic-language culinary treatises written during the thirteenth-century’s Almohad Dynasty. Specifically, the author examines the Sent Soví’s connections with the anonymous Kitāb al-ṭabīkh fī al-Maghrib wa al-Andalus fī ʻaṣr al-Mawahḥidīn [The Book of Cooking in Maghreb and Andalus in the Era of Almohads] and Muḥammad Ibn Razīn al-Tujībī’s Fuḍālat al-ḫuwān fī ṭaiyibāt aṭ-ṭaʻām wa’l-alwān [The Delicacies of the Table and the Finest of Foods and Dishes]. Nadeau’s argument is twofold. She first highlights a common thread linking all three texts by identifying what she labels as “narrative bridges” or stylistic commonalities, such as “passion,” “authority,” and “awareness of the reader” (21–28). The author then moves on to a discussion of the continuation and cessation of the use of certain foods, herbs, and spices to elucidate a “culinary contact zone” which existed between Christians and Muslims in medieval Iberia (29). Chapter 2, “Food and Death: Foodways and Communities in the Danza general de la muerte,” considers the inclusion of food as social commentary within the anonymous Danza general de la muerte. Michelle M. Hamilton and María Morrás provide an in-depth analysis of the work’s characters and their association with multiple food items. This includes an examination of the archbishop, the physician, the priest, the laborer, and the alfaquí, and whether they properly obtained or utilized the food which was at their disposal. The authors convincingly demonstrate that food is not only deployed in the Danza general to indicate status, class, and profession, but also to make certain moral [End Page 196] arguments as well. The authors view “the imagery of food and consumption as symbolic equivalences of the moral-philosophical dilemma that is at the crux of the work, namely the conception of life and death and the way people choose to navigate each” (36). In chapter 3, “‘Los que comedes mi pan:’ Food References in the Romancero,” Hilary Pomeroy examines the appearance of food in multiple Iberian ballads, reminding us that certain food acts “communicated an encoded message readily understood by ballad singer and audience alike” (56). Pomeroy asserts that the intentional inclusion of food in certain ballads could immediately evoke information about status, concerns about sieges, and even hint at upcoming plot developments. Furthermore, the examples provided demonstrate that this semiotic value of food can be found in ballads depicting people of multiple faiths. Chapter 4, “Magical Morsels: Food in Morisco Aljamiado Incantations,” examines the role of food in the spells and incantations of two anonymous manuscripts written in Aljamiado between the fifteenth and seventeenth centuries on the Iberian Peninsula. Veronica Menaldi shows that spells, primarily used by women, had multiple purposes ranging from improved memory to finding love, but also helped to disguise and preserve certain Islamic traditions under the guise of quotidian food practices. These magical...

The 1705 van Delft expedition to northern Australia: a toponymic perspective

ABSTRACT During the 17th and 18th centuries the Dutch were quite active in exploring the western and northern coastlines of the Great Southland. Of one of these expeditions, conducted by Maerten van Delft in 1705, intelligence is limited and it is infrequently mentioned in the canon of Australia’s exploration. The only extant documents of the expedition are an anonymous manuscript chart and a report of the voyage by two Councillors of the VOC in Batavia. This article provides a brief outline of the voyage, then examines the toponyms and appellations in the report and those on the manuscript chart, endeavours to reconcile the differences between the two, and finally attempts to provide motivations for the names as well as to pinpoint their locations and present-day names.