Introduction

This chapter introduces the scope and rationale for this book and discusses the notion of ‘manuscript culture’, which foregrounds manuscripts as portable, functional objects and highlights the people that interacted with them. The chapter also provides a brief overview of Rumi’s life and works, and the history of the early Mevlevis in the environment of late medieval Konya. Finally, it discusses modern scholarship related to Mevlevi manuscripts and key primary sources relevant to the period, and gives an overview of the succeeding chapters.