The Book of Charlatans / / Jamāl al-Dīn ʿAbd al-Raḥīm al-Jawbarī.

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter EBOOK PACKAGE COMPLETE 2022 English
• VerfasserIn: al-Jawbarī, Jamāl al-Dīn ʿAbd al-Raḥīm,
• MitwirkendeR: Chakraborty, S. A.,; Davies, Humphrey,
• Place / Publishing House: New York, NY : : New York University Press, , [2022]; ©2022
• Year of Publication: 2022
• Language: English
• Series: Library of Arabic Literature ; 82
• Physical Description: 1 online resource

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. Al-Jawbarī 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.” 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.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Foreword -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction -- Map: al-Jawbarī’s World: The Periphery -- Map: al-Jawbarī’s World: The Ce -- Note on the Text -- Notes to the Introduction -- The Book of Charlatans -- Introduction -- Chapter One, in Fourteen Sections: Exposé of the Tricks of Fake Prophets -- Chapter Two, in Twenty-Four Sections: Exposé of the Tricks of Fake Shaykhs and Illusionists27 among the Dervishes, the Shaykhs, and “the Righteous” -- Chapter Three, in Four Sections: Exposé of the Tricks of Fire-and-Brimstone Preachers -- Chapter Four, in Five Sections: Exposé of the Tricks of Monks -- Chapter Five, in Five Sections: Exposé of the Tricks of Jews and Others -- Chapter Six, in Eight Sections: Exposé of the Tricks of the Banū Sāsān -- Chapter Seven, in Two Sections: Exposé of the Tricks of Those Who Work Solomon’s Ant -- Chapter Eight, in Seven Sections: Exposé of the Tricks of Those Who Practice War and Bear Arms -- Chapter Nine, in Nine Sections: Exposé of the Tricks of the People of the Kāf, That Is, Alchemy -- Chapter Ten, in Twelve Sections: Exposé of the Tricks of Apothecaries -- Chapter Eleven, in Five Sections: Exposé of the Tricks of the People of the Mīm 136 (Who Are Treasure Hunters Who Pretend to Have Access to Hoards of Wealth and Buried Treasure) -- Chapter Twelve, in Nine Sections: Exposé of the Tricks of Astrologers Who Ply Their Trade on the Highway -- Chapter Thirteen, in Thirteen Sections: Exposé of the Tricks of Spirit Conjurors -- Chapter Fourteen, in Twenty-Two Sections: Exposé of the Tricks of the Doctors Who Practice on the Highways -- Chapter Fifteen, in Six Sections: Exposé of the Tricks of Those Who Extract Worms from Teeth -- Chapter Sixteen, in One Section: Exposé of the Tricks of Eye Doctors Who Use Metal Instruments -- Chapter Seventeen, in Six Sections: Exposé of the Tricks of Those Who Dye Horses -- Chapter Eighteen, in Ten Sections: Exposé of Their Tricks; Example: Those Who Dye Humans -- Chapter Nineteen, in Three Sections: Exposé of the Tricks of Those Who Manipulate Fire and Can Block Its Heat -- Chapter Twenty, in Eight Sections: Exposé of the Tricks of Those Who Concoct Artificial Foodstuffs -- Chapter Twenty-One, in Five Sections: Exposé of the Tricks of Those Who Work Knockout Drugs and Stupefacients -- Chapter Twenty-Two, in Six Sections: Exposé of the Tricks of Notaries, That Is, of the People Who Draw Up Contracts -- Chapter Twenty-Three, in Eight Sections: Exposé of the Tricks of Prestidigitators -- Chapter Twenty-Four, in Eleven Sections: Exposé of Jewelers and Their Fake Products -- Chapter Twenty-Five, in Six Sections: Exposé of the Tricks of Money Changers, of Scams They Pull and Scams Pulled on Them -- Chapter Twenty-Six, in One Section: Exposé of the Tricks of Those Who Creep Up on Beardless Boys at Music and Chanting Performances and Weddings and on Journeys and So On -- Chapter Twenty-Seven, in Thirty-Two Sections: Exposé of the Tricks of “the Masters of the Crafts” -- Chapter Twenty-Eight, in Three Sections: Exposé of the Tricks of Sneak Thieves (Thieves Who Enter Houses Unlawfully) -- Chapter Twenty-Nine, in Four Sections: Exposé of the Tricks of the Thieves Who Enter Houses by Making Holes in Walls and Committing Murder -- Chapter Thirty, in Two Sections Exposé of the Tricks of Women, and of Their Cunning, Craftiness, and Duplicity -- Notes -- Glossary of People, Places, and Little-Known Simples -- Bibliography -- Further Reading -- Index -- About the NYU Abu Dhabi Institute -- About the Editor -- The Library of Arabic Literature