Nadine Schibille: Islamic Glass in the Making: Chronological and Geographical Dimensions Leuven: Leuven University Press, 2022. ISBN 978 946270319 3.

Finally, several useful appendices complete the volume, namely a list of the manuscripts considered, the works they contain, the copyists, the places where the manuscripts were copied, and remarkable colophons and notes, as well as an extremely useful glossary containing the codicological terms employed throughout the book. If I had to find one fault, it might be that the index of copied works is organized alphabetically by genre (Adab and Botany; Adab and Meteorology ...), whereas perhaps it would have been more practical to organize them simply by title, indicating the genre at the end. However, this probably responds to Bongianino’s aim of linking the diverse genres to one or another variety of script. This monograph on the manuscript tradition of the Islamic West is an invaluable contribution to the field of Islamic intellectual and cultural history. By focusing not just on the content of the texts, but also (and mainly) on the material aspects of the artefacts wherein those texts were copied, Bongianino provides the reader with a framework that allows for a better understanding of the written production, and of the way in which those works were written, read, transmitted, taught, and preserved – a relatively overlooked aspect in the history of the Muslim communities of this geographic area. In brief, this publication will surely become a definitive reference work in the field, preparing the ground for future research.