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Bonsall: /* Conventions: */

2026-03-25T13:17:37Z

Conventions:

← Older revision		Revision as of 13:17, 25 March 2026
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	* '''Title: ''The Seven Sages / Book of Sindbad'':''' Scholarship on this narrative traditionally separated the text into “Western” and “Eastern” or “Oriental” branches; while the broad strokes of this division are useful, it needs modification, not least due to its Orientalist history and Eurocentric assumption of a strict intellectual divide between East and West. Geographically, both branches overlap, with early “Eastern” Hebrew and Arabic versions likely originating in the far west of the Eurasian mainland, in Champagne and Andalucia respectively. We have therefore instead followed [[Kunkel (2023)\|Nico Kunkel (2023)]] in calling the “Eastern” versions ''The Book of Sindbad'', because variations of this title have been assigned to most of its iterations, and referring to the “Western” versions as ''The Seven Sages of Rome'', again because variations of this title are used for many of its exemplars. [See Bildhauer, Introduction to ''Global Premodern Literature in the Digital Age.'']		* '''Title: ''The Seven Sages / Book of Sindbad'':''' Scholarship on this narrative traditionally separated the text into “Western” and “Eastern” or “Oriental” branches; while the broad strokes of this division are useful, it needs modification, not least due to its Orientalist history and Eurocentric assumption of a strict intellectual divide between East and West. Geographically, both branches overlap, with early “Eastern” Hebrew and Arabic versions likely originating in the far west of the Eurasian mainland, in Champagne and Andalucia respectively. We have therefore instead followed [[Kunkel (2023)\|Nico Kunkel (2023)]] in calling the “Eastern” versions ''The Book of Sindbad'', because variations of this title have been assigned to most of its iterations, and referring to the “Western” versions as ''The Seven Sages of Rome'', again because variations of this title are used for many of its exemplars. [See Bildhauer, Introduction to ''Global Premodern Literature in the Digital Age.'']
	* '''Deciding which texts to include:''' The ''Seven Sages / Book of Sindbad'' tradition is diffuse and sometimes hard to pin down. Many premodern (and modern) texts include parts of the narrative - either individual embedded stories, parts of the frame narrative. To keep things simple, we have therefore only recorded manuscript/print witnesses that include both (part of) the frame narrative, and some of the embedded stories, as seen in e.g. the [[Excerpts in Gesta Romanorum\|Excerpts in the Gesta Romanorum]]. (There are a few exceptions to this rule: see the [[Group B: Alexander og Lúðvík\|Icelandic Version H Groups B]] and [[Group D: Vinaspegill\|D]].) The ''Seven Sages / Book of Sindbad'' narrative is also found embedded in other, larger story collections. We see this in its presence within the ''Gesta Romanorum,'' Johannes Gobi's ''Scala Coeli,'' in the Persian ''Tutinama,'' and both the''1001'' and ''101 Nights.'' We have attempted to add all relevant prints and manuscripts for these traditions; however, scholarship does not always detail the full contents of each copy of a story collection. We have therefore omitted any manuscripts or prints that contain the larger story ~~colelction~~, if we have not also been able to positively confirm (via scholarship at least) that a ~~text~~ contains the ''Seven Sages / Book of Sindbad'' narrative itself. Future scholarship into these areas may therefore expand our lists.		* '''Deciding which texts to include:''' The ''Seven Sages / Book of Sindbad'' tradition is diffuse and sometimes hard to pin down. Many premodern (and modern) texts include parts of the narrative - either individual embedded stories, parts of the frame narrative. To keep things simple, we have therefore only recorded manuscript/print witnesses that include both (part of) the frame narrative, and some of the embedded stories, as seen in e.g. the [[Excerpts in Gesta Romanorum\|Excerpts in the Gesta Romanorum]]. (There are a few exceptions to this rule: see the [[Group B: Alexander og Lúðvík\|Icelandic Version H Groups B]] and [[Group D: Vinaspegill\|D]].) The ''Seven Sages / Book of Sindbad'' narrative is also found embedded in other, larger story collections. We see this in its presence within the ''Gesta Romanorum,'' Johannes Gobi's ''Scala Coeli,'' in the Persian ''Tutinama,'' and both the''1001'' and ''101 Nights.'' We have attempted to add all relevant prints and manuscripts for these traditions; however, scholarship does not always detail the full contents of each copy of a story collection. We have therefore omitted any manuscripts or prints that contain the larger story collection, if we have not also been able to positively confirm (via scholarship at least) that a manuscript contains the ''Seven Sages / Book of Sindbad'' narrative itself. Future scholarship into these areas may therefore expand our lists.
	* '''Inset Story Names''': We have preserved the Latin names for the inset stories given in scholarship (and will be creating new Latin short titles for some stories that do not yet have those titles, such as those from the ''[[Forty Viziers: Ḥikāyet-i Ḳırḳ Vezīr\|Forty Viziers]]'' tradition, for consistency across the tradition). We have also added English short titles for all stories as well, for accessibility. These English titles are either direct translations of the Latin, or are made slightly more descriptive if that is necessary either for clarity or to adhere with titles given in some scholarship (e.g. work on the Arabic tradition, which often omits the Latin titles).		* '''Inset Story Names''': We have preserved the Latin names for the inset stories given in scholarship (and will be creating new Latin short titles for some stories that do not yet have those titles, such as those from the ''[[Forty Viziers: Ḥikāyet-i Ḳırḳ Vezīr\|Forty Viziers]]'' tradition, for consistency across the tradition). We have also added English short titles for all stories as well, for accessibility. These English titles are either direct translations of the Latin, or are made slightly more descriptive if that is necessary either for clarity or to adhere with titles given in some scholarship (e.g. work on the Arabic tradition, which often omits the Latin titles).
	* '''Versions and Sigla''': We have largely preserved the narrative groupings, usually determined by the embedded stories and their order as well as key plot points, that most contemporary scholarship refers to as distinct versions of the ''Book of Sindbad / Seven Sages'' narrative, though sometimes with qualifications (given on their distinct [[Versions\|Version]] pages). We have also maintained the sigla traditionally given in scholarship to these distinct branches of the tradition, usually letter-names (H, L, M, I, etc.). The version of the narrative usually titled ''Historia Septem Sapientum'' takes the siglum H, for example, and the branches of that version are therefore designated as e.g. Czech Version H, Scots Version H, Latin Version H, etc.		* '''Versions and Sigla''': We have largely preserved the narrative groupings, usually determined by the embedded stories and their order as well as key plot points, that most contemporary scholarship refers to as distinct versions of the ''Book of Sindbad / Seven Sages'' narrative, though sometimes with qualifications (given on their distinct [[Versions\|Version]] pages). We have also maintained the sigla traditionally given in scholarship to these distinct branches of the tradition, usually letter-names (H, L, M, I, etc.). The version of the narrative usually titled ''Historia Septem Sapientum'' takes the siglum H, for example, and the branches of that version are therefore designated as e.g. Czech Version H, Scots Version H, Latin Version H, etc.

Bonsall: /* Sources: */

2026-03-16T13:02:47Z

Sources:

← Older revision		Revision as of 13:02, 16 March 2026
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	== What is ''The Seven Sages of Rome'' and ''The Book of Sindbad'' tradition? ==		== What is ''The Seven Sages of Rome'' and ''The Book of Sindbad'' tradition? ==

	[Adapted from Bildhauer, 'Introduction to ''Global Premodern Literature in the Digital Age: The Seven Sages of Rome/ Sindbad/ Syntipas/ Dolopathos''<nowiki/>', Special Issue of ''Open Library of the Humanities Journal,'' ed. by Bildhauer and Bonsall, Vol. 11 Issue 2-Vol. 12 Issue 1 (2025-2026).]		[Adapted from Bildhauer, 'Introduction to ''Global Premodern Literature in the Digital Age: The Seven Sages of Rome/ Sindbad/ Syntipas/ Dolopathos''<nowiki/>', Special Issue of ''Open Library of the Humanities Journal,'' ed. by Bildhauer and Bonsall, Vol. 11 Issue 2-Vol. 12 Issue 1 (2025-2026).]

	The narrative known in English variously as ''The Seven Sages of Rome'', ''The Seven Wise Masters, The Book of Sindbad, Dolopathos'' or ''The Book of Syntipas the Philosopher'' was one of the most widely adapted and copied secular narrative in the medieval and the early modern periods. At least 140 distinct versions of the ''Seven Sages / Sindbad'' story matter were written down from the late eleventh to the sixteenth century and into the present day, across at least 32 languages of the Middle East, Western Asia, Northern Africa and Europe.		The narrative known in English variously as ''The Seven Sages of Rome'', ''The Seven Wise Masters, The Book of Sindbad, Dolopathos'' or ''The Book of Syntipas the Philosopher'' was one of the most widely adapted and copied secular narrative in the medieval and the early modern periods. At least 140 distinct versions of the ''Seven Sages / Sindbad'' story matter were written down from the late eleventh to the sixteenth century and into the present day, across at least 32 languages of the Middle East, Western Asia, Northern Africa and Europe.
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	Our original project brief was to capture a complete picture of the transmission of the ''Seven Sages of Rome/Book of Sindbad'' narrative before 1600. As we progressed, we observed an unbroken pattern of transmission beyond that date, and so while the early textual tradition has remained our priority, we have also entered information on later manuscripts and print editions when readily available.To populate the ''Seven Sages of Rome'' Database with this information, we have relied on existing secondary research material. While we have tried to verify information where possible (e.g. using library catalogues, digitisations, and editions), we have not always conducted primary research to confirm this information, but instead have worked to capture the state of the field. To do so, we have relied on ''Seven Sages/Book of Sindbad'' scholarship, both focused studies exploring individual languages or traditions, and a few large, multi-lingual overviews of the whole narrative transmission.		Our original project brief was to capture a complete picture of the transmission of the ''Seven Sages of Rome/Book of Sindbad'' narrative before 1600. As we progressed, we observed an unbroken pattern of transmission beyond that date, and so while the early textual tradition has remained our priority, we have also entered information on later manuscripts and print editions when readily available.To populate the ''Seven Sages of Rome'' Database with this information, we have relied on existing secondary research material. While we have tried to verify information where possible (e.g. using library catalogues, digitisations, and editions), we have not always conducted primary research to confirm this information, but instead have worked to capture the state of the field. To do so, we have relied on ''Seven Sages/Book of Sindbad'' scholarship, both focused studies exploring individual languages or traditions, and a few large, multi-lingual overviews of the whole narrative transmission.

	~~===~~ Sources: ~~===~~		'''Sources:'''

	A few key sources have been especially useful:		A few key sources have been especially useful:

Bonsall: /* What is The Seven Sages of Rome and The Book of Sindbad tradition? */

2026-03-16T13:01:48Z

What is The Seven Sages of Rome and The Book of Sindbad tradition?

← Older revision		Revision as of 13:01, 16 March 2026
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	== What is ''The Seven Sages of Rome'' and ''The Book of Sindbad'' tradition? ==		== What is ''The Seven Sages of Rome'' and ''The Book of Sindbad'' tradition? ==

	[Adapted from Bildhauer, 'Introduction to ''Global Premodern Literature in the Digital Age: The Seven Sages of Rome/ Sindbad/ Syntipas/ Dolopathos''<nowiki/>', Special Issue of Open Library of the Humanities Journal, ed. by Bildhauer and Bonsall, Vol. 11 Issue 2-Vol. 12 Issue 1 (2025-2026).]		[Adapted from Bildhauer, 'Introduction to ''Global Premodern Literature in the Digital Age: The Seven Sages of Rome/ Sindbad/ Syntipas/ Dolopathos''<nowiki/>', Special Issue of ''Open Library of the Humanities Journal,'' ed. by Bildhauer and Bonsall, Vol. 11 Issue 2-Vol. 12 Issue 1 (2025-2026).]

	The narrative known in English variously as ''The Seven Sages of Rome'', ''The Seven Wise Masters, The Book of Sindbad, Dolopathos'' or ''The Book of Syntipas the Philosopher'' was one of the most widely adapted and copied secular narrative in the medieval and the early modern periods. At least 140 distinct versions of the ''Seven Sages / Sindbad'' story matter were written down from the late eleventh to the sixteenth century and into the present day, across at least 32 languages of the Middle East, Western Asia, Northern Africa and Europe.		The narrative known in English variously as ''The Seven Sages of Rome'', ''The Seven Wise Masters, The Book of Sindbad, Dolopathos'' or ''The Book of Syntipas the Philosopher'' was one of the most widely adapted and copied secular narrative in the medieval and the early modern periods. At least 140 distinct versions of the ''Seven Sages / Sindbad'' story matter were written down from the late eleventh to the sixteenth century and into the present day, across at least 32 languages of the Middle East, Western Asia, Northern Africa and Europe.

	Across all versions, the kernel of the frame-narrative plot is a false accusation of attempted rape made against a prince by his father’s second wife or consort. The young prince had been sent away from court to be educated, but when he returns, he does not speak, because he has read in the stars that harm will come to him unless he remains silent for a certain number of days (usually seven). The ruler’s wife (not the boy’s mother) attempts to make the son speak by taking him to a private bedchamber, ~~but then~~ propositions him~~, which he~~ rejects. ~~It is~~ then ~~that the woman~~ raises the false accusation that the prince had tried to rape her. The ruler immediately sentences his son to death, but the ~~son~~ cannot defend himself against the accusation due to his vow of silence. A wise man now steps in and tells one or more stories to make the king delay the execution and bridge the time until the son is allowed to speak again. This pattern is repeated every day until the deadline has passed~~. The son~~ tells his father what happened, the woman is instantly found guilty.		Across all versions, the kernel of the frame-narrative plot is a false accusation of attempted rape made against a prince by his father’s second wife or consort. The young prince had been sent away from court to be educated by the wisest man or men in the land, but when he returns, he does not speak, because he has read in the stars that harm will come to him unless he remains silent for a certain number of days (usually seven). The ruler’s wife or consort (not the boy’s mother) attempts to make the son speak by taking him to a private bedchamber; once there, she propositions him (sometime also suggesting they jointly overthrow his father). The prince rejects her advances. The woman then injures herself, usually tearing her face and clothing, and raises the false accusation that the prince had tried to rape her. The ruler immediately sentences his son to death, but the prince cannot defend himself against the accusation due to his vow of silence. A wise man (or several wise men) now steps in and tells one or more stories to make the king delay the execution and bridge the time until the son is allowed to speak again. The stories told by the sages, usually discrediting women and warning against rash decisions, are followed by stories from the woman herself, designed to convince the ruler to kill his son, which usually show sons and advisers in a bad light. This pattern is repeated every day until the deadline has passed, at which point the prince tells his father what happened, and the woman is instantly found guilty.

	~~The fact that these~~ plot elements remain the same, while the embedded stories and many other characters and motifs vary, means that it must have been this basic narrative as well as the possibility of variation that ensured the story matter’s broad spread and longevity. What made this narrative so attractive to adapters and audiences across so many different languages, regions and times must have been its structure – both rigid and finite in its numbered daily pattern, and flexible in the number, sequence and identity of the individual embedded stories – as well as the high-stakes and polarised plot that invites audiences to take sides, discuss, react with strong affect and rewrite the story.		These plot elements remain essentially the same across time and language, while the embedded stories and many other characters and motifs vary.

	In the many versions of the ''Book of Sindbad'', more precisely, the young prince is the son of a king (usually of India, Persia, Judea or an unnamed country) and one of his female consorts. The prince’s education is usually described in some detail, sometimes with embedded stories. When the prince returns to court and remains silent, a different consort of the king – not the boy’s mother – proposes in private that the two of them should kill his father and that the son then should marry her.[1] The young man rejects her propositioning, and she quickly turns the situation around by injuring herself and accusing the prince of attempted rape. The king immediately believes her and sentences his son to death. Seven sages – usually the king’s advisers or veziers – then over seven days tell two embedded stories each to the court, and the king’s consort counters with her own stories, usually just one per day. After each tale, the sages and the woman also give an interpretation. The sages most commonly tell stories discrediting women and warning against rash decisions, and the woman’s stories usually show sons and advisers in a bad light.[2] When the boy reveals the truth about the false allegation of attempted rape, the woman is found guilty, but then nevertheless pardoned. Additional stories are often embedded in this ending.
	~~----~~<br />		<br />
	== Building the Database ==		== Building the Database ==
	Our original project brief was to capture a complete picture of the transmission of the ''Seven Sages of Rome/Book of Sindbad'' narrative before 1600. As we progressed, we observed an unbroken pattern of transmission beyond that date, and so while the early textual tradition has remained our priority, we have also entered information on later manuscripts and print editions when readily available.To populate the ''Seven Sages of Rome'' Database with this information, we have relied on existing secondary research material. While we have tried to verify information where possible (e.g. using library catalogues, digitisations, and editions), we have not always conducted primary research to confirm this information, but instead have worked to capture the state of the field. To do so, we have relied on ''Seven Sages/Book of Sindbad'' scholarship, both focused studies exploring individual languages or traditions, and a few large, multi-lingual overviews of the whole narrative transmission.		Our original project brief was to capture a complete picture of the transmission of the ''Seven Sages of Rome/Book of Sindbad'' narrative before 1600. As we progressed, we observed an unbroken pattern of transmission beyond that date, and so while the early textual tradition has remained our priority, we have also entered information on later manuscripts and print editions when readily available.To populate the ''Seven Sages of Rome'' Database with this information, we have relied on existing secondary research material. While we have tried to verify information where possible (e.g. using library catalogues, digitisations, and editions), we have not always conducted primary research to confirm this information, but instead have worked to capture the state of the field. To do so, we have relied on ''Seven Sages/Book of Sindbad'' scholarship, both focused studies exploring individual languages or traditions, and a few large, multi-lingual overviews of the whole narrative transmission.
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	For more of the sources that have shaped our understanding of the tradition, see the [[Modern Research Literature]] page.		For more of the sources that have shaped our understanding of the tradition, see the [[Modern Research Literature]] page.

	=== Conventions: ===		== Conventions: ==
	We have attempted to make the information as user-friendly as possible, while also essentially adhering to the conventions and expectations of existing ''Seven Sages / Book of Sindbad'' scholarship. We have also made decisions along the way in an effort to streamline or clarify the material. We have attempted to adhere to following conventions:		We have attempted to make the information as user-friendly as possible, while also essentially adhering to the conventions and expectations of existing ''Seven Sages / Book of Sindbad'' scholarship. We have also made decisions along the way in an effort to streamline or clarify the material. We have attempted to adhere to following conventions:

Bonsall: /* Conventions: */

2026-03-16T12:43:28Z

Conventions:

← Older revision		Revision as of 12:43, 16 March 2026
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	== What is ''The Seven Sages of Rome'' and ''The Book of Sindbad'' tradition? ==		== What is ''The Seven Sages of Rome'' and ''The Book of Sindbad'' tradition? ==

			[Adapted from Bildhauer, 'Introduction to ''Global Premodern Literature in the Digital Age: The Seven Sages of Rome/ Sindbad/ Syntipas/ Dolopathos''<nowiki/>', Special Issue of Open Library of the Humanities Journal, ed. by Bildhauer and Bonsall, Vol. 11 Issue 2-Vol. 12 Issue 1 (2025-2026).]

			The narrative known in English variously as ''The Seven Sages of Rome'', ''The Seven Wise Masters, The Book of Sindbad, Dolopathos'' or ''The Book of Syntipas the Philosopher'' was one of the most widely adapted and copied secular narrative in the medieval and the early modern periods. At least 140 distinct versions of the ''Seven Sages / Sindbad'' story matter were written down from the late eleventh to the sixteenth century and into the present day, across at least 32 languages of the Middle East, Western Asia, Northern Africa and Europe.

			Across all versions, the kernel of the frame-narrative plot is a false accusation of attempted rape made against a prince by his father’s second wife or consort. The young prince had been sent away from court to be educated, but when he returns, he does not speak, because he has read in the stars that harm will come to him unless he remains silent for a certain number of days (usually seven). The ruler’s wife (not the boy’s mother) attempts to make the son speak by taking him to a private bedchamber, but then propositions him, which he rejects. It is then that the woman raises the false accusation that the prince had tried to rape her. The ruler immediately sentences his son to death, but the son cannot defend himself against the accusation due to his vow of silence. A wise man now steps in and tells one or more stories to make the king delay the execution and bridge the time until the son is allowed to speak again. This pattern is repeated every day until the deadline has passed. The son tells his father what happened, the woman is instantly found guilty.

			The fact that these plot elements remain the same, while the embedded stories and many other characters and motifs vary, means that it must have been this basic narrative as well as the possibility of variation that ensured the story matter’s broad spread and longevity. What made this narrative so attractive to adapters and audiences across so many different languages, regions and times must have been its structure – both rigid and finite in its numbered daily pattern, and flexible in the number, sequence and identity of the individual embedded stories – as well as the high-stakes and polarised plot that invites audiences to take sides, discuss, react with strong affect and rewrite the story.

			In the many versions of the ''Book of Sindbad'', more precisely, the young prince is the son of a king (usually of India, Persia, Judea or an unnamed country) and one of his female consorts. The prince’s education is usually described in some detail, sometimes with embedded stories. When the prince returns to court and remains silent, a different consort of the king – not the boy’s mother – proposes in private that the two of them should kill his father and that the son then should marry her.[1] The young man rejects her propositioning, and she quickly turns the situation around by injuring herself and accusing the prince of attempted rape. The king immediately believes her and sentences his son to death. Seven sages – usually the king’s advisers or veziers – then over seven days tell two embedded stories each to the court, and the king’s consort counters with her own stories, usually just one per day. After each tale, the sages and the woman also give an interpretation. The sages most commonly tell stories discrediting women and warning against rash decisions, and the woman’s stories usually show sons and advisers in a bad light.[2] When the boy reveals the truth about the false allegation of attempted rape, the woman is found guilty, but then nevertheless pardoned. Additional stories are often embedded in this ending.
			----<br />
	== Building the Database ==		== Building the Database ==
	Our original project brief was to capture a complete picture of the transmission of the ''Seven Sages of Rome/Book of Sindbad'' narrative before 1600. As we progressed, we observed an unbroken pattern of transmission beyond that date, and so while the early textual tradition has remained our priority, we have also entered information on later manuscripts and print editions when readily available.To populate the ''Seven Sages of Rome'' Database with this information, we have relied on existing secondary research material. While we have tried to verify information where possible (e.g. using library catalogues, digitisations, and editions), we have not always conducted primary research to confirm this information, but instead have worked to capture the state of the field. To do so, we have relied on ''Seven Sages/Book of Sindbad'' scholarship, both focused studies exploring individual languages or traditions, and a few large, multi-lingual overviews of the whole narrative transmission.		Our original project brief was to capture a complete picture of the transmission of the ''Seven Sages of Rome/Book of Sindbad'' narrative before 1600. As we progressed, we observed an unbroken pattern of transmission beyond that date, and so while the early textual tradition has remained our priority, we have also entered information on later manuscripts and print editions when readily available.To populate the ''Seven Sages of Rome'' Database with this information, we have relied on existing secondary research material. While we have tried to verify information where possible (e.g. using library catalogues, digitisations, and editions), we have not always conducted primary research to confirm this information, but instead have worked to capture the state of the field. To do so, we have relied on ''Seven Sages/Book of Sindbad'' scholarship, both focused studies exploring individual languages or traditions, and a few large, multi-lingual overviews of the whole narrative transmission.
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	In Nishimura Masami's translation of [[Perry (1960)]], シンドバードの書の起源 (Shindobādo no sho no kigen, The Origin of the Book of Sindbad), he included broad, comprehensive appendices of information about the ''Seven Sages/Book of Sindbad'' transmission and narrative contents, such as comparative stemma and charts of embedded tales. Nishimura's appendices offer by far the most complete, updated, and detailed list of all of the embedded tales from across the tradition (barring the ''Forty Viziers'') in any ''Seven Sages'' scholarship. He kindly shared an unpublished English translation of his summaries of those stories, along with his extensive notes on each, with our project, and this material has been invaluable in the population of the [[Inset Stories\|inset story pages]] in this database.		In Nishimura Masami's translation of [[Perry (1960)]], シンドバードの書の起源 (Shindobādo no sho no kigen, The Origin of the Book of Sindbad), he included broad, comprehensive appendices of information about the ''Seven Sages/Book of Sindbad'' transmission and narrative contents, such as comparative stemma and charts of embedded tales. Nishimura's appendices offer by far the most complete, updated, and detailed list of all of the embedded tales from across the tradition (barring the ''Forty Viziers'') in any ''Seven Sages'' scholarship. He kindly shared an unpublished English translation of his summaries of those stories, along with his extensive notes on each, with our project, and this material has been invaluable in the population of the [[Inset Stories\|inset story pages]] in this database.

	For more of the sources that have shaped our understanding of the tradition, see the [[Modern Research Literature]] page.		For more of the sources that have shaped our understanding of the tradition, see the [[Modern Research Literature]] page.

	=== Conventions: ===		=== Conventions: ===
	We have attempted to make the information as user-friendly as possible, while also essentially adhering to the conventions and expectations of existing ''Seven Sages / Book of Sindbad'' scholarship. We have also made decisions along the way in an effort to streamline or clarify the material. We have attempted to adhere to following conventions:		We have attempted to make the information as user-friendly as possible, while also essentially adhering to the conventions and expectations of existing ''Seven Sages / Book of Sindbad'' scholarship. We have also made decisions along the way in an effort to streamline or clarify the material. We have attempted to adhere to following conventions:

	* '''Deciding which texts to include:''' The ''Seven Sages / Book of Sindbad'' tradition is diffuse and sometimes hard to pin down. Many premodern (and modern) texts include parts of the narrative - either individual embedded stories, parts of the frame narrative. To keep things simple, we have therefore only recorded manuscript/print witnesses that include both (part of) the frame narrative, and some of the embedded stories, as seen in e.g. the [[Excerpts in Gesta Romanorum\|Excerpts in the Gesta Romanorum]]. (There are a few exceptions to this rule: see the [[Group B: Alexander og Lúðvík\|Icelandic Version H Groups B]] and [[Group D: Vinaspegill\|D]].) The ''Seven Sages / Book of Sindbad'' narrative is also found embedded in other, larger story collections. We see this in its presence within the ''Gesta Romanorum,'' Johannes Gobi's ''Scala Coeli,'' in the Persian ''Tutinama,'' and both the''1001'' and ''101 Nights.'' We have attempted to add all relevant prints and manuscripts for these traditions; however, scholarship does not always detail the full contents of each copy of a story collection. We have therefore omitted any manuscripts or prints that contain the larger story colelction, if we have not also been able to positively confirm (via scholarship at least) that a text contains the ''Seven Sages / Book of Sindbad'' narrative itself. Future scholarship into these areas may therefore expand our lists.		* '''Title: ''The Seven Sages / Book of Sindbad'':''' Scholarship on this narrative traditionally separated the text into “Western” and “Eastern” or “Oriental” branches; while the broad strokes of this division are useful, it needs modification, not least due to its Orientalist history and Eurocentric assumption of a strict intellectual divide between East and West. Geographically, both branches overlap, with early “Eastern” Hebrew and Arabic versions likely originating in the far west of the Eurasian mainland, in Champagne and Andalucia respectively. We have therefore instead followed [[Kunkel (2023)\|Nico Kunkel (2023)]] in calling the “Eastern” versions ''The Book of Sindbad'', because variations of this title have been assigned to most of its iterations, and referring to the “Western” versions as ''The Seven Sages of Rome'', again because variations of this title are used for many of its exemplars. [See Bildhauer, Introduction to ''Global Premodern Literature in the Digital Age.'']
			* '''Deciding which texts to include:''' The ''Seven Sages / Book of Sindbad'' tradition is diffuse and sometimes hard to pin down. Many premodern (and modern) texts include parts of the narrative - either individual embedded stories, parts of the frame narrative. To keep things simple, we have therefore only recorded manuscript/print witnesses that include both (part of) the frame narrative, and some of the embedded stories, as seen in e.g. the [[Excerpts in Gesta Romanorum\|Excerpts in the Gesta Romanorum]]. (There are a few exceptions to this rule: see the [[Group B: Alexander og Lúðvík\|Icelandic Version H Groups B]] and [[Group D: Vinaspegill\|D]].) The ''Seven Sages / Book of Sindbad'' narrative is also found embedded in other, larger story collections. We see this in its presence within the ''Gesta Romanorum,'' Johannes Gobi's ''Scala Coeli,'' in the Persian ''Tutinama,'' and both the''1001'' and ''101 Nights.'' We have attempted to add all relevant prints and manuscripts for these traditions; however, scholarship does not always detail the full contents of each copy of a story collection. We have therefore omitted any manuscripts or prints that contain the larger story colelction, if we have not also been able to positively confirm (via scholarship at least) that a text contains the ''Seven Sages / Book of Sindbad'' narrative itself. Future scholarship into these areas may therefore expand our lists.
	* '''Inset Story Names''': We have preserved the Latin names for the inset stories given in scholarship (and will be creating new Latin short titles for some stories that do not yet have those titles, such as those from the ''[[Forty Viziers: Ḥikāyet-i Ḳırḳ Vezīr\|Forty Viziers]]'' tradition, for consistency across the tradition). We have also added English short titles for all stories as well, for accessibility. These English titles are either direct translations of the Latin, or are made slightly more descriptive if that is necessary either for clarity or to adhere with titles given in some scholarship (e.g. work on the Arabic tradition, which often omits the Latin titles).		* '''Inset Story Names''': We have preserved the Latin names for the inset stories given in scholarship (and will be creating new Latin short titles for some stories that do not yet have those titles, such as those from the ''[[Forty Viziers: Ḥikāyet-i Ḳırḳ Vezīr\|Forty Viziers]]'' tradition, for consistency across the tradition). We have also added English short titles for all stories as well, for accessibility. These English titles are either direct translations of the Latin, or are made slightly more descriptive if that is necessary either for clarity or to adhere with titles given in some scholarship (e.g. work on the Arabic tradition, which often omits the Latin titles).
	* '''Versions and Sigla''': We have largely preserved the narrative groupings, usually determined by the embedded stories and their order as well as key plot points, that most contemporary scholarship refers to as distinct versions of the ''Book of Sindbad / Seven Sages'' narrative, though sometimes with qualifications (given on their distinct [[Versions\|Version]] pages). We have also maintained the sigla traditionally given in scholarship to these distinct branches of the tradition, usually letter-names (H, L, M, I, etc.). The version of the narrative usually titled ''Historia Septem Sapientum'' takes the siglum H, for example, and the branches of that version are therefore designated as e.g. Czech Version H, Scots Version H, Latin Version H, etc.		* '''Versions and Sigla''': We have largely preserved the narrative groupings, usually determined by the embedded stories and their order as well as key plot points, that most contemporary scholarship refers to as distinct versions of the ''Book of Sindbad / Seven Sages'' narrative, though sometimes with qualifications (given on their distinct [[Versions\|Version]] pages). We have also maintained the sigla traditionally given in scholarship to these distinct branches of the tradition, usually letter-names (H, L, M, I, etc.). The version of the narrative usually titled ''Historia Septem Sapientum'' takes the siglum H, for example, and the branches of that version are therefore designated as e.g. Czech Version H, Scots Version H, Latin Version H, etc.
	* '''Names of characters''': The storytellers are often, but not always, named in the ''Seven Sages / Book fo Sindbad'' tradition. We have added the names of the 'sages' when they are given, and have attempted both to offer standardized names (to demonstrate shared inheritances and patterns), and also manuscript- or language-specific variations of those names (e.g. Cato, and Katho, Caton, Chatomas, etc.). The king's consort, the other prolific storyteller, is referred to as the Empress. This reflects her role in the ''Seven Sages'' tradition, but not the ''Book of Sindbad,'' in which she is not always married to the ruler. ''Book of Sindbad'' scholarship sometimes refers to her as the lady, the concubine, or simply the woman; for consistency, we have referred to her as the Empress throughout.		* '''Names of characters''': The storytellers are often, but not always, named in the ''Seven Sages / Book of Sindbad'' tradition. We have added the names of the 'sages' when they are given, and have attempted both to offer standardized names (to demonstrate shared inheritances and patterns), and also manuscript- or language-specific variations of those names (e.g. Cato, and Katho, Caton, Chatomas, etc.). The king's consort, the other prolific storyteller, is referred to as the Empress. This reflects her role in the ''Seven Sages'' tradition, but not the ''Book of Sindbad,'' in which she is not always married to the ruler. ''Book of Sindbad'' scholarship sometimes refers to her as the lady, the concubine, or simply the woman; for consistency, we have referred to her as the Empress throughout.
	* '''Language and transcription:''' One of the striking features of ''The Seven Sages / Book of Sindbad'' is its multilinguality. We have attempted to preserve this (while simultaneously defaulting to English for accessibility) by including titles of text and libraries in their original and regional languages, and by offering text titles and incipits in their original scripts.		* '''Language and transcription:''' One of the striking features of ''The Seven Sages / Book of Sindbad'' is its multilinguality. We have attempted to preserve this (while simultaneously defaulting to English for accessibility) by including titles of text and libraries in their original and regional languages, and by offering text titles and incipits in their original scripts.
	* '''Dating:'''		* '''Dating:'''

Bonsall at 12:10, 16 March 2026

2026-03-16T12:10:26Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 12:10, 16 March 2026
Line 41:		Line 41:
	* '''Language and transcription:''' One of the striking features of ''The Seven Sages / Book of Sindbad'' is its multilinguality. We have attempted to preserve this (while simultaneously defaulting to English for accessibility) by including titles of text and libraries in their original and regional languages, and by offering text titles and incipits in their original scripts.		* '''Language and transcription:''' One of the striking features of ''The Seven Sages / Book of Sindbad'' is its multilinguality. We have attempted to preserve this (while simultaneously defaulting to English for accessibility) by including titles of text and libraries in their original and regional languages, and by offering text titles and incipits in their original scripts.
	* '''Dating:'''		* '''Dating:'''
	* '''Lists of embedded stories:''' We have attempted to ensure that all versions and secondary versions list the embedded tales, in the order in which they appear, as far as possible. However, we have ''not'' systematically added stories to all manuscripts or prints due to time constraints. If no embedded stories are listed on a given manuscript or print page, this does not therefore mean that the text contains no embedded stories, but rather that they have simply not been added. Check the relevant version page for the expected story order for a given text, with the understanding that variations may occur between one text and the next. (When readily available in scholarship, we have sometimes also included story order on individual manucript or print pages, but only infrequently. We have prioritised doing so only when scholarship indicates that the order is anomalous or departs from the pattern in the overall version.		* '''Lists of embedded stories:''' We have attempted to ensure that all versions and secondary versions list the embedded tales, in the order in which they appear, as far as possible. However, we have ''not'' systematically added stories to all manuscripts or prints due to time constraints. If no embedded stories are listed on a given manuscript or print page, this does not therefore mean that the text contains no embedded stories, but rather that they have simply not been added. Check the relevant version page for the expected story order for a given text, with the understanding that variations may occur between one text and the next. (When readily available in scholarship, we have sometimes also included story order on individual manucript or print pages, but only infrequently. We have prioritised doing so only when scholarship indicates that the order is anomalous or departs from the pattern in the overall version.)

	== A Living Archive: works in progress ==		== A Living Archive: works in progress ==
	Our work on the database is not yet complete. This is partly because of the ever-evolving scholarship on the tradition, and the modern and contemporary transmission of the narrative, but also simply because we have yet to fully attend to some language areas. The areas that are currently in progress, or still to be added, are:		Our work on the database is not yet complete. This is partly because of the ever-evolving scholarship on the tradition, and the modern and contemporary transmission of the narrative, but also simply because we have yet to fully attend to some language areas. The areas that are currently in progress, or still to be added, are:

	* The 1001 Nights (manuscripts/prints and version details to be added)		* ''The 1001 Nights'' (manuscripts/prints and version details to be added)
	* Romanian ''~~Historia~~'' (manuscripts/prints and version details to be added)		* Romanian ''Syntipas'' (manuscripts/prints and version details to be added)
	* Serbian ''~~Historia~~'' (manuscripts/prints and version details to be added)		* Serbian ''Syntipas'' (manuscripts/prints and version details to be added)
	* Turkish ''Kirk vezir'' prints (''Forty Viziers'' prints to be added to the existing manuscript list)		* Turkish ''Kirk vezir'' prints (''Forty Viziers'' prints to be added to the existing manuscript list)
	* Turkish ''Kirk vezir'' stories (''Forty Viziers'' embedded stories to be added)		* Turkish ''Kirk vezir'' stories (''Forty Viziers'' embedded stories to be added)

Bonsall: /* Conventions: */

2026-03-13T14:24:29Z

Conventions:

← Older revision		Revision as of 14:24, 13 March 2026
Line 35:		Line 35:
	We have attempted to make the information as user-friendly as possible, while also essentially adhering to the conventions and expectations of existing ''Seven Sages / Book of Sindbad'' scholarship. We have also made decisions along the way in an effort to streamline or clarify the material. We have attempted to adhere to following conventions:		We have attempted to make the information as user-friendly as possible, while also essentially adhering to the conventions and expectations of existing ''Seven Sages / Book of Sindbad'' scholarship. We have also made decisions along the way in an effort to streamline or clarify the material. We have attempted to adhere to following conventions:

	* '''Deciding which texts to include:''' The ''Seven Sages / Book of Sindbad'' tradition is diffuse and sometimes hard to pin down. Many premodern (and modern) texts include parts of the narrative - individual embedded stories, parts of the frame narrative,		* '''Deciding which texts to include:''' The ''Seven Sages / Book of Sindbad'' tradition is diffuse and sometimes hard to pin down. Many premodern (and modern) texts include parts of the narrative - either individual embedded stories, parts of the frame narrative. To keep things simple, we have therefore only recorded manuscript/print witnesses that include both (part of) the frame narrative, and some of the embedded stories, as seen in e.g. the [[Excerpts in Gesta Romanorum\|Excerpts in the Gesta Romanorum]]. (There are a few exceptions to this rule: see the [[Group B: Alexander og Lúðvík\|Icelandic Version H Groups B]] and [[Group D: Vinaspegill\|D]].) The ''Seven Sages / Book of Sindbad'' narrative is also found embedded in other, larger story collections. We see this in its presence within the ''Gesta Romanorum,'' Johannes Gobi's ''Scala Coeli,'' in the Persian ''Tutinama,'' and both the''1001'' and ''101 Nights.'' We have attempted to add all relevant prints and manuscripts for these traditions; however, scholarship does not always detail the full contents of each copy of a story collection. We have therefore omitted any manuscripts or prints that contain the larger story colelction, if we have not also been able to positively confirm (via scholarship at least) that a text contains the ''Seven Sages / Book of Sindbad'' narrative itself. Future scholarship into these areas may therefore expand our lists.
	* '''Inset Story Names''': We have preserved the Latin names for the inset stories given in scholarship (and ~~created~~ new Latin short titles for some stories that ~~did~~ not yet have those titles, such as those from the ''[[Forty Viziers: Ḥikāyet-i Ḳırḳ Vezīr\|Forty Viziers]]'' tradition, for consistency across the tradition). We have also added English short titles for all stories as well, for accessibility. These English titles are either direct translations of the Latin, or are made slightly more descriptive if that is necessary either for clarity or to adhere with titles given in some scholarship (e.g. work on the Arabic tradition, which often omits the Latin titles).		* '''Inset Story Names''': We have preserved the Latin names for the inset stories given in scholarship (and will be creating new Latin short titles for some stories that do not yet have those titles, such as those from the ''[[Forty Viziers: Ḥikāyet-i Ḳırḳ Vezīr\|Forty Viziers]]'' tradition, for consistency across the tradition). We have also added English short titles for all stories as well, for accessibility. These English titles are either direct translations of the Latin, or are made slightly more descriptive if that is necessary either for clarity or to adhere with titles given in some scholarship (e.g. work on the Arabic tradition, which often omits the Latin titles).
	* '''Versions and Sigla''': We have largely preserved the narrative groupings, usually determined by the embedded stories and their order as well as key plot points, that most contemporary scholarship refers to as distinct versions of the ''Book of Sindbad / Seven Sages'' narrative, though sometimes with qualifications (given on their distinct [[Versions\|Version]] pages). We have also maintained the sigla traditionally given in scholarship to these distinct branches of the tradition, usually letter-names (H, L, M, I, etc.). The version of the narrative usually titled ''Historia Septem Sapientum'' takes the siglum H, for example, and the branches of that version are therefore designated as e.g. Czech Version H, Scots Version H, Latin Version H, etc.		* '''Versions and Sigla''': We have largely preserved the narrative groupings, usually determined by the embedded stories and their order as well as key plot points, that most contemporary scholarship refers to as distinct versions of the ''Book of Sindbad / Seven Sages'' narrative, though sometimes with qualifications (given on their distinct [[Versions\|Version]] pages). We have also maintained the sigla traditionally given in scholarship to these distinct branches of the tradition, usually letter-names (H, L, M, I, etc.). The version of the narrative usually titled ''Historia Septem Sapientum'' takes the siglum H, for example, and the branches of that version are therefore designated as e.g. Czech Version H, Scots Version H, Latin Version H, etc.
	* '''Names of characters''':		* '''Names of characters''': The storytellers are often, but not always, named in the ''Seven Sages / Book fo Sindbad'' tradition. We have added the names of the 'sages' when they are given, and have attempted both to offer standardized names (to demonstrate shared inheritances and patterns), and also manuscript- or language-specific variations of those names (e.g. Cato, and Katho, Caton, Chatomas, etc.). The king's consort, the other prolific storyteller, is referred to as the Empress. This reflects her role in the ''Seven Sages'' tradition, but not the ''Book of Sindbad,'' in which she is not always married to the ruler. ''Book of Sindbad'' scholarship sometimes refers to her as the lady, the concubine, or simply the woman; for consistency, we have referred to her as the Empress throughout.
	* '''Language and transcription:'''		* '''Language and transcription:''' One of the striking features of ''The Seven Sages / Book of Sindbad'' is its multilinguality. We have attempted to preserve this (while simultaneously defaulting to English for accessibility) by including titles of text and libraries in their original and regional languages, and by offering text titles and incipits in their original scripts.
	* '''Dating'''		* '''Dating:'''
	* '''Lists of embedded stories:''' We have attempted to ensure that all versions and secondary versions list the embedded tales, in the order in which they appear, as far as possible. However, we have ''not'' systematically added stories to all manuscripts or prints due to time constraints. If no embedded stories are listed on a given manuscript or print page, this does not therefore mean that the text contains no embedded stories, but rather that they have simply not been added. Check the relevant version page for the expected story order for a given text, with the understanding that variations may occur between one text and the next. (When readily available in scholarship, we have sometimes also included story order on individual manucript or print pages, but only infrequently. We have prioritised doing so only when scholarship indicates that the order is anomalous or departs from the pattern in the overall version.		* '''Lists of embedded stories:''' We have attempted to ensure that all versions and secondary versions list the embedded tales, in the order in which they appear, as far as possible. However, we have ''not'' systematically added stories to all manuscripts or prints due to time constraints. If no embedded stories are listed on a given manuscript or print page, this does not therefore mean that the text contains no embedded stories, but rather that they have simply not been added. Check the relevant version page for the expected story order for a given text, with the understanding that variations may occur between one text and the next. (When readily available in scholarship, we have sometimes also included story order on individual manucript or print pages, but only infrequently. We have prioritised doing so only when scholarship indicates that the order is anomalous or departs from the pattern in the overall version.

			== A Living Archive: works in progress ==
			Our work on the database is not yet complete. This is partly because of the ever-evolving scholarship on the tradition, and the modern and contemporary transmission of the narrative, but also simply because we have yet to fully attend to some language areas. The areas that are currently in progress, or still to be added, are:

	~~NOT YET ADDED:~~		* The 1001 Nights (manuscripts/prints and version details to be added)
			* Romanian ''Historia'' (manuscripts/prints and version details to be added)
			* Serbian ''Historia'' (manuscripts/prints and version details to be added)
			* Turkish ''Kirk vezir'' prints (''Forty Viziers'' prints to be added to the existing manuscript list)
			* Turkish ''Kirk vezir'' stories (''Forty Viziers'' embedded stories to be added)
			* ''The Seven Wise Mistresses'' (early modern English gender-swapped version of the Seven Wise Masters - manuscripts/prints and version details to be added)

	== Using the database ==		== Using the database ==

Bonsall at 11:56, 13 March 2026

2026-03-13T11:56:03Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 11:56, 13 March 2026
Line 41:		Line 41:
	* '''Language and transcription:'''		* '''Language and transcription:'''
	* '''Dating'''		* '''Dating'''
	* '''Lists of embedded stories:''' We have attempted to ensure that all versions and secondary versions list the embedded tales, in the order in which they appear, as far as possible. However, we have ''not'' systematically added stories to all manuscripts or prints due to time constraints. If no embedded stories are listed on a given manuscript or print page, this does not therefore mean that the text contains no embedded stories, but rather that they have simply not been added. Check the relevant version page for the expected story order for a given text, with the understanding that variations may occur between one text and the next. (When readily available in scholarship, we have sometimes also included story order on individual manucript or print pages, but only infrequently. We have prioritised doing so only when scholarship indicates that the order is anomalous or departs from the pattern in the overall version.)		* '''Lists of embedded stories:''' We have attempted to ensure that all versions and secondary versions list the embedded tales, in the order in which they appear, as far as possible. However, we have ''not'' systematically added stories to all manuscripts or prints due to time constraints. If no embedded stories are listed on a given manuscript or print page, this does not therefore mean that the text contains no embedded stories, but rather that they have simply not been added. Check the relevant version page for the expected story order for a given text, with the understanding that variations may occur between one text and the next. (When readily available in scholarship, we have sometimes also included story order on individual manucript or print pages, but only infrequently. We have prioritised doing so only when scholarship indicates that the order is anomalous or departs from the pattern in the overall version.
	*

			NOT YET ADDED:

	== Using the database ==		== Using the database ==

Bonsall at 12:35, 9 March 2026

2026-03-09T12:35:40Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 12:35, 9 March 2026
Line 1:		Line 1:
	== About the project ==		== About the project ==
	This database was created as part of the AHRC-DFG UK German collaborative research projects in the humanities: ''<nowiki/>'[https://seven-sages-of-rome.org/ The Seven Sages of Rome]''[https://seven-sages-of-rome.org/ : Editing and Reappraising a forgotten premodern classic from global and gendered perspectives]' (2023-2026), jointly funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council and the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft. It assembles existing research from across the multilingual ''Seven Sages of Rome'' and the ''Book of Sindbad'' tradition, verified and updated as far as possible.		This database was created as part of the AHRC-DFG UK German collaborative research projects in the humanities: ''<nowiki/>'[https://seven-sages-of-rome.org/ The Seven Sages of Rome]''[https://seven-sages-of-rome.org/ : Editing and Reappraising a forgotten premodern classic from global and gendered perspectives]' (2023-2026), jointly funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council and the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft. The database assembles existing research from across the multilingual ''Seven Sages of Rome'' and the ''Book of Sindbad'' tradition, verified and updated as far as possible.

	=== How to cite: ===		=== How to cite: ===
Line 7:		Line 7:
	=== Team: ===		=== Team: ===
	The database is largely the work of Jane Bonsall (University of St Andrews, United Kingdom). It was designed by Bonsall, Bettina Bildhauer and Maximilian Nöth at the Zentrum für Digitalität und Philologie at the University of Würzburg (Germany). Nöth and his team set up the user interface and web architecture. Individual entries were authored by Bonsall, Bildhauer, Elisabeth Böttcher (Freie Universität Berlin), Alfie Watkins (Oxford), Marjolijne Janssen (Freie Universität Berlin), Ava Byrne (St Andrews). Additional data was entered by Jack Kornowske, Ana Ross, Annabel Lloyd Wrafter and Sining Yun. Jutta Eming as co-investigator on the AHRC-DFG project and Ida Toth contributed further contacts and information.		The database is largely the work of Jane Bonsall (University of St Andrews, United Kingdom). It was designed by Bonsall, Bettina Bildhauer and Maximilian Nöth at the Zentrum für Digitalität und Philologie at the University of Würzburg (Germany). Nöth and his team set up the user interface and web architecture. Individual entries were authored by Bonsall, Bildhauer, Elisabeth Böttcher (Freie Universität Berlin), Alfie Watkins (Oxford), Marjolijne Janssen (Freie Universität Berlin), Ava Byrne (St Andrews). Additional data was entered by Jack Kornowske, Ana Ross, Annabel Lloyd Wrafter and Sining Yun. Jutta Eming as co-investigator on the AHRC-DFG project and Ida Toth contributed further contacts and information.

			== What is ''The Seven Sages of Rome'' and ''The Book of Sindbad'' tradition? ==


	== Building the Database ==		== Building the Database ==
Line 30:		Line 33:

	=== Conventions: ===		=== Conventions: ===
	We have attempted to make the information as user-friendly as possible, while also essentially adhering to the conventions and expectations of existing ''Seven Sages / Book of Sindbad'' scholarship. ~~This has included~~:		We have attempted to make the information as user-friendly as possible, while also essentially adhering to the conventions and expectations of existing ''Seven Sages / Book of Sindbad'' scholarship. We have also made decisions along the way in an effort to streamline or clarify the material. We have attempted to adhere to following conventions:

			* '''Deciding which texts to include:''' The ''Seven Sages / Book of Sindbad'' tradition is diffuse and sometimes hard to pin down. Many premodern (and modern) texts include parts of the narrative - individual embedded stories, parts of the frame narrative,
	* '''Inset Story Names''': We have preserved the Latin names for the inset stories given in scholarship (and created new Latin short titles for some stories that did not yet have those titles, such as those from the ''[[Forty Viziers: Ḥikāyet-i Ḳırḳ Vezīr\|Forty Viziers]]'' tradition, for consistency across the tradition). We have also added English short titles for all stories as well, for accessibility. These English titles are either direct translations of the Latin, or are made slightly more descriptive if that is necessary either for clarity or to adhere with titles given in some scholarship (e.g. work on the Arabic tradition, which often omits the Latin titles).		* '''Inset Story Names''': We have preserved the Latin names for the inset stories given in scholarship (and created new Latin short titles for some stories that did not yet have those titles, such as those from the ''[[Forty Viziers: Ḥikāyet-i Ḳırḳ Vezīr\|Forty Viziers]]'' tradition, for consistency across the tradition). We have also added English short titles for all stories as well, for accessibility. These English titles are either direct translations of the Latin, or are made slightly more descriptive if that is necessary either for clarity or to adhere with titles given in some scholarship (e.g. work on the Arabic tradition, which often omits the Latin titles).
	* '''Versions and Sigla''': We have largely preserved the narrative groupings, usually determined by the embedded stories and their order as well as key plot points, that most contemporary scholarship refers to as distinct versions of the ''Book of Sindbad / Seven Sages'' narrative, though sometimes with qualifications (given on their distinct [[Versions\|Version]] pages). We have also maintained the sigla traditionally given in scholarship to these distinct branches of the tradition, usually letter-names (H, L, M, I, etc.). The version of the narrative usually titled ''Historia Septem Sapientum'' takes the siglum H, for example, and the branches of that version are therefore designated as e.g. Czech Version H, Scots Version H, Latin Version H, etc.		* '''Versions and Sigla''': We have largely preserved the narrative groupings, usually determined by the embedded stories and their order as well as key plot points, that most contemporary scholarship refers to as distinct versions of the ''Book of Sindbad / Seven Sages'' narrative, though sometimes with qualifications (given on their distinct [[Versions\|Version]] pages). We have also maintained the sigla traditionally given in scholarship to these distinct branches of the tradition, usually letter-names (H, L, M, I, etc.). The version of the narrative usually titled ''Historia Septem Sapientum'' takes the siglum H, for example, and the branches of that version are therefore designated as e.g. Czech Version H, Scots Version H, Latin Version H, etc.
Line 38:		Line 42:
	* '''Dating'''		* '''Dating'''
	* '''Lists of embedded stories:''' We have attempted to ensure that all versions and secondary versions list the embedded tales, in the order in which they appear, as far as possible. However, we have ''not'' systematically added stories to all manuscripts or prints due to time constraints. If no embedded stories are listed on a given manuscript or print page, this does not therefore mean that the text contains no embedded stories, but rather that they have simply not been added. Check the relevant version page for the expected story order for a given text, with the understanding that variations may occur between one text and the next. (When readily available in scholarship, we have sometimes also included story order on individual manucript or print pages, but only infrequently. We have prioritised doing so only when scholarship indicates that the order is anomalous or departs from the pattern in the overall version.)		* '''Lists of embedded stories:''' We have attempted to ensure that all versions and secondary versions list the embedded tales, in the order in which they appear, as far as possible. However, we have ''not'' systematically added stories to all manuscripts or prints due to time constraints. If no embedded stories are listed on a given manuscript or print page, this does not therefore mean that the text contains no embedded stories, but rather that they have simply not been added. Check the relevant version page for the expected story order for a given text, with the understanding that variations may occur between one text and the next. (When readily available in scholarship, we have sometimes also included story order on individual manucript or print pages, but only infrequently. We have prioritised doing so only when scholarship indicates that the order is anomalous or departs from the pattern in the overall version.)
	* ~~'''Which texts we include:'''~~		*

	== Using the database ==		== Using the database ==

Bonsall at 10:36, 9 March 2026

2026-03-09T10:36:36Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 10:36, 9 March 2026
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	* '''Dating'''		* '''Dating'''
	* '''Lists of embedded stories:''' We have attempted to ensure that all versions and secondary versions list the embedded tales, in the order in which they appear, as far as possible. However, we have ''not'' systematically added stories to all manuscripts or prints due to time constraints. If no embedded stories are listed on a given manuscript or print page, this does not therefore mean that the text contains no embedded stories, but rather that they have simply not been added. Check the relevant version page for the expected story order for a given text, with the understanding that variations may occur between one text and the next. (When readily available in scholarship, we have sometimes also included story order on individual manucript or print pages, but only infrequently. We have prioritised doing so only when scholarship indicates that the order is anomalous or departs from the pattern in the overall version.)		* '''Lists of embedded stories:''' We have attempted to ensure that all versions and secondary versions list the embedded tales, in the order in which they appear, as far as possible. However, we have ''not'' systematically added stories to all manuscripts or prints due to time constraints. If no embedded stories are listed on a given manuscript or print page, this does not therefore mean that the text contains no embedded stories, but rather that they have simply not been added. Check the relevant version page for the expected story order for a given text, with the understanding that variations may occur between one text and the next. (When readily available in scholarship, we have sometimes also included story order on individual manucript or print pages, but only infrequently. We have prioritised doing so only when scholarship indicates that the order is anomalous or departs from the pattern in the overall version.)
			* '''Which texts we include:'''

	== Using the database ==		== Using the database ==

Bonsall at 14:06, 6 March 2026

2026-03-06T14:06:58Z

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	In Nishimura Masami's translation of [[Perry (1960)]], シンドバードの書の起源 (Shindobādo no sho no kigen, The Origin of the Book of Sindbad), he included broad, comprehensive appendices of information about the ''Seven Sages/Book of Sindbad'' transmission and narrative contents, such as comparative stemma and charts of embedded tales. Nishimura's appendices offer by far the most complete, updated, and detailed list of all of the embedded tales from across the tradition (barring the ''Forty Viziers'') in any ''Seven Sages'' scholarship. He kindly shared an unpublished English translation of his summaries of those stories, along with his extensive notes on each, with our project, and this material has been invaluable in the population of the [[Inset Stories\|inset story pages]] in this database.		In Nishimura Masami's translation of [[Perry (1960)]], シンドバードの書の起源 (Shindobādo no sho no kigen, The Origin of the Book of Sindbad), he included broad, comprehensive appendices of information about the ''Seven Sages/Book of Sindbad'' transmission and narrative contents, such as comparative stemma and charts of embedded tales. Nishimura's appendices offer by far the most complete, updated, and detailed list of all of the embedded tales from across the tradition (barring the ''Forty Viziers'') in any ''Seven Sages'' scholarship. He kindly shared an unpublished English translation of his summaries of those stories, along with his extensive notes on each, with our project, and this material has been invaluable in the population of the [[Inset Stories\|inset story pages]] in this database.

			For more of the sources that have shaped our understanding of the tradition, see the [[Modern Research Literature]] page.

	=== Conventions: ===		=== Conventions: ===

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	* '''Title: ''The Seven Sages / Book of Sindbad'':''' Scholarship on this narrative traditionally separated the text into “Western” and “Eastern” or “Oriental” branches; while the broad strokes of this division are useful, it needs modification, not least due to its Orientalist history and Eurocentric assumption of a strict intellectual divide between East and West. Geographically, both branches overlap, with early “Eastern” Hebrew and Arabic versions likely originating in the far west of the Eurasian mainland, in Champagne and Andalucia respectively. We have therefore instead followed [[Kunkel (2023)\|Nico Kunkel (2023)]] in calling the “Eastern” versions ''The Book of Sindbad'', because variations of this title have been assigned to most of its iterations, and referring to the “Western” versions as ''The Seven Sages of Rome'', again because variations of this title are used for many of its exemplars. [See Bildhauer, Introduction to ''Global Premodern Literature in the Digital Age.'']		* '''Title: ''The Seven Sages / Book of Sindbad'':''' Scholarship on this narrative traditionally separated the text into “Western” and “Eastern” or “Oriental” branches; while the broad strokes of this division are useful, it needs modification, not least due to its Orientalist history and Eurocentric assumption of a strict intellectual divide between East and West. Geographically, both branches overlap, with early “Eastern” Hebrew and Arabic versions likely originating in the far west of the Eurasian mainland, in Champagne and Andalucia respectively. We have therefore instead followed [[Kunkel (2023)\|Nico Kunkel (2023)]] in calling the “Eastern” versions ''The Book of Sindbad'', because variations of this title have been assigned to most of its iterations, and referring to the “Western” versions as ''The Seven Sages of Rome'', again because variations of this title are used for many of its exemplars. [See Bildhauer, Introduction to ''Global Premodern Literature in the Digital Age.'']
	* '''Deciding which texts to include:''' The ''Seven Sages / Book of Sindbad'' tradition is diffuse and sometimes hard to pin down. Many premodern (and modern) texts include parts of the narrative - either individual embedded stories, parts of the frame narrative. To keep things simple, we have therefore only recorded manuscript/print witnesses that include both (part of) the frame narrative, and some of the embedded stories, as seen in e.g. the [[Excerpts in Gesta Romanorum\|Excerpts in the Gesta Romanorum]]. (There are a few exceptions to this rule: see the [[Group B: Alexander og Lúðvík\|Icelandic Version H Groups B]] and [[Group D: Vinaspegill\|D]].) The ''Seven Sages / Book of Sindbad'' narrative is also found embedded in other, larger story collections. We see this in its presence within the ''Gesta Romanorum,'' Johannes Gobi's ''Scala Coeli,'' in the Persian ''Tutinama,'' and both the''1001'' and ''101 Nights.'' We have attempted to add all relevant prints and manuscripts for these traditions; however, scholarship does not always detail the full contents of each copy of a story collection. We have therefore omitted any manuscripts or prints that contain the larger story ~~colelction~~, if we have not also been able to positively confirm (via scholarship at least) that a ~~text~~ contains the ''Seven Sages / Book of Sindbad'' narrative itself. Future scholarship into these areas may therefore expand our lists.		* '''Deciding which texts to include:''' The ''Seven Sages / Book of Sindbad'' tradition is diffuse and sometimes hard to pin down. Many premodern (and modern) texts include parts of the narrative - either individual embedded stories, parts of the frame narrative. To keep things simple, we have therefore only recorded manuscript/print witnesses that include both (part of) the frame narrative, and some of the embedded stories, as seen in e.g. the [[Excerpts in Gesta Romanorum\|Excerpts in the Gesta Romanorum]]. (There are a few exceptions to this rule: see the [[Group B: Alexander og Lúðvík\|Icelandic Version H Groups B]] and [[Group D: Vinaspegill\|D]].) The ''Seven Sages / Book of Sindbad'' narrative is also found embedded in other, larger story collections. We see this in its presence within the ''Gesta Romanorum,'' Johannes Gobi's ''Scala Coeli,'' in the Persian ''Tutinama,'' and both the''1001'' and ''101 Nights.'' We have attempted to add all relevant prints and manuscripts for these traditions; however, scholarship does not always detail the full contents of each copy of a story collection. We have therefore omitted any manuscripts or prints that contain the larger story collection, if we have not also been able to positively confirm (via scholarship at least) that a manuscript contains the ''Seven Sages / Book of Sindbad'' narrative itself. Future scholarship into these areas may therefore expand our lists.
	* '''Inset Story Names''': We have preserved the Latin names for the inset stories given in scholarship (and will be creating new Latin short titles for some stories that do not yet have those titles, such as those from the ''[[Forty Viziers: Ḥikāyet-i Ḳırḳ Vezīr\|Forty Viziers]]'' tradition, for consistency across the tradition). We have also added English short titles for all stories as well, for accessibility. These English titles are either direct translations of the Latin, or are made slightly more descriptive if that is necessary either for clarity or to adhere with titles given in some scholarship (e.g. work on the Arabic tradition, which often omits the Latin titles).		* '''Inset Story Names''': We have preserved the Latin names for the inset stories given in scholarship (and will be creating new Latin short titles for some stories that do not yet have those titles, such as those from the ''[[Forty Viziers: Ḥikāyet-i Ḳırḳ Vezīr\|Forty Viziers]]'' tradition, for consistency across the tradition). We have also added English short titles for all stories as well, for accessibility. These English titles are either direct translations of the Latin, or are made slightly more descriptive if that is necessary either for clarity or to adhere with titles given in some scholarship (e.g. work on the Arabic tradition, which often omits the Latin titles).
	* '''Versions and Sigla''': We have largely preserved the narrative groupings, usually determined by the embedded stories and their order as well as key plot points, that most contemporary scholarship refers to as distinct versions of the ''Book of Sindbad / Seven Sages'' narrative, though sometimes with qualifications (given on their distinct [[Versions\|Version]] pages). We have also maintained the sigla traditionally given in scholarship to these distinct branches of the tradition, usually letter-names (H, L, M, I, etc.). The version of the narrative usually titled ''Historia Septem Sapientum'' takes the siglum H, for example, and the branches of that version are therefore designated as e.g. Czech Version H, Scots Version H, Latin Version H, etc.		* '''Versions and Sigla''': We have largely preserved the narrative groupings, usually determined by the embedded stories and their order as well as key plot points, that most contemporary scholarship refers to as distinct versions of the ''Book of Sindbad / Seven Sages'' narrative, though sometimes with qualifications (given on their distinct [[Versions\|Version]] pages). We have also maintained the sigla traditionally given in scholarship to these distinct branches of the tradition, usually letter-names (H, L, M, I, etc.). The version of the narrative usually titled ''Historia Septem Sapientum'' takes the siglum H, for example, and the branches of that version are therefore designated as e.g. Czech Version H, Scots Version H, Latin Version H, etc.