A Book History of Qur'anic Exegetical Printing in the 19th Century

The history of Qur'anic exegesis (tafsīr) in the modern period has until now lacked discussion on the genre's encounter with print technology. This paper offers a global survey of printed tafsīr works published in the 19th century. To this end, I have compiled a database of 242 tafsīr editions printed in this time period, and sorted and analyzed their publication data by date, title, language, place of publication, publisher, and religious orientation, with the data presented in tables and maps. This survey reveals in quantitative terms the dominance of two primary global tafsīr printing hubs, in Cairo and North India, the rise of vernacular tafsīr works, the decline of the scholastic gloss tradition, and the rise of radical Qur'anic hermeneutics. This paper concludes by drawing parallels between the varied print economies of Reformation-era Europe with the 19th-century Muslim world.