Duncan Black MacDonald
Encyclopedia
Duncan Black MacDonald was an American Orientalist. He studied Semitic languages
at Glasgow
and then Berlin
, before teaching at the Hartford Theological Seminary in the United States. His main scholarly interest was Muslim
theology, which led him to the study of the One Thousand and One Nights, as he believed that the Nights stories reflected the Muslim popular piety.
MacDonald was the second scholar to investigate the manuscripts of the Nights, after Hermann Zotenberg
, and he began to publish his results in 1908. The Arabic MSS of Ali Baba
he discovered at the Bodleian Library
was later found to be counterfeited. But he did successfully prove that the ‘Tunisian MSS’ which Maximilian Habicht claimed to find and use for his Breslau Nights edition was a fake. MacDonald planned to prepare a critical edition of the three-volume Bibliothèque nationale
MSS, which Antoine Galland
used for his French Nights translation. However, nothing came out of it, and such a critical edition was produced by Muhsin Mahdi
only in 1984.
Besides, MacDonald did important work on Arab magic and superstition, wrote about Muslim-Christian relations, and was involved in sending out Protestant missions to the Middle East. The Macdonald Center for the Study of Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations at the Hartford Theological Seminary is named after him.
Semitic languages
The Semitic languages are a group of related languages whose living representatives are spoken by more than 270 million people across much of the Middle East, North Africa and the Horn of Africa...
at Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
and then Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
, before teaching at the Hartford Theological Seminary in the United States. His main scholarly interest was Muslim
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
theology, which led him to the study of the One Thousand and One Nights, as he believed that the Nights stories reflected the Muslim popular piety.
MacDonald was the second scholar to investigate the manuscripts of the Nights, after Hermann Zotenberg
Hermann Zotenberg
Hermann Zotenberg was an orientalist and Arabist.He worked for the Bibliothèque nationale de France in Paris. His most celebrated work is his edition of the Chronique de Tabari - Works :...
, and he began to publish his results in 1908. The Arabic MSS of Ali Baba
Ali Baba
Ali Baba is a fictional character from medieval Arabic literature. He is described in the adventure tale of Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves...
he discovered at the Bodleian Library
Bodleian Library
The Bodleian Library , the main research library of the University of Oxford, is one of the oldest libraries in Europe, and in Britain is second in size only to the British Library...
was later found to be counterfeited. But he did successfully prove that the ‘Tunisian MSS’ which Maximilian Habicht claimed to find and use for his Breslau Nights edition was a fake. MacDonald planned to prepare a critical edition of the three-volume Bibliothèque nationale
Bibliothèque nationale de France
The is the National Library of France, located in Paris. It is intended to be the repository of all that is published in France. The current president of the library is Bruno Racine.-History:...
MSS, which Antoine Galland
Antoine Galland
Antoine Galland was a French orientalist and archaeologist, most famous as the first European translator of The Thousand and One Nights...
used for his French Nights translation. However, nothing came out of it, and such a critical edition was produced by Muhsin Mahdi
Muhsin Mahdi
Muḥsin Mahdī was an Iraqi-American islamologist and arabist. He was a leading authority on Arabian history, philology, and philosophy. His best-known work was the first critical edition of the One Thousand and One Nights....
only in 1984.
Besides, MacDonald did important work on Arab magic and superstition, wrote about Muslim-Christian relations, and was involved in sending out Protestant missions to the Middle East. The Macdonald Center for the Study of Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations at the Hartford Theological Seminary is named after him.