Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Humanities/2018 May 30

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May 30

Muslim Scholar from the Medieval period

Dear Ladies and Gentlemen

I am looking for a Muslim Scholar from the Medieval period, who travelled Europe during the medieval period. I did read his writings during my high school time, but I forgot his name. I do remember that he was appalled by the loose sexual morality he encountered in Europe, specifically about a knight who found his wife cheating him with another man in his bed and the knight challenged her lover to a duel (jousting, if I remember correctly).--2A02:120B:C3CC:FC50:9D70:B236:49A:EE60 (talk) 13:46, 30 May 2018 (UTC)

Perhaps Muhammad al-Idrisi, Ibn Jubayr or, less likely, Ibn Hawqal, Ahmad ibn Rustah or Ahmad ibn Fadlan? At any rate they're all medieval Muslims who travelled in Europe and wrote about it. --Antiquary (talk) 14:36, 30 May 2018 (UTC)

That sounds like a story from Usama ibn Munqidh about crusader knights in the Near East (he never went to Europe, but Europe came to him). Adam Bishop (talk) 10:25, 31 May 2018 (UTC)

Here's what I was thinking of (Usama ibn Muniqidh, The Book of Contemplation, trans. Paul Cobb): "...There was a house belonging to a Frankish man who sold wine for the merchants...So one day, he came back home and discovered a man in bed with his wife. The Frank said to the man, 'What business brings you here to my wife?' 'I got tired,' the man replied, 'so I came in to rest.' 'But how did you get into my bed?' asked the Frank. 'I found a bed that was all made up, so I went to sleep in it,' he replied. 'While my wife was sleeping there with you?' the Frank pursued. 'Well, it's her bed,' the man offered. 'Who am I to keep her out of it?' 'By the truth of my religion,' the Frank said, 'if you do this again, we'll have an argument, you and I!'

Usama is clearly just making fun of these weirdo crusaders and their crazy customs (the next story is about crusaders discovering the amazing practise of shaving their pubic hair), so it's like a medieval ethnic joke. Nobody ends up duelling here though, so maybe it's not what you're referring to. Adam Bishop (talk) 10:56, 31 May 2018 (UTC)

Thank you for your answers. Usama ibn Muniqidh sounds interesting, but this is definitely not the story I read.--2A02:120B:C3CC:FC50:C013:E0C6:9C92:77A1 (talk) 18:02, 31 May 2018 (UTC)

Catalog of lost books

Is there a catalogue available which lists all the lost works from antiquity?--2A02:120B:C3CC:FC50:9D70:B236:49A:EE60 (talk) 13:49, 30 May 2018 (UTC)

No, not all, because the index of Library of Alexandria said to possess nearly half a million scrolls, Callimachus' Pinakes, was lost with the rest of the library. DroneB (talk) 14:34, 30 May 2018 (UTC)

Though half a million scrolls is probably a gross overestimate. And Pinakes was a list of prominent men and their works, not necessarily works possessed by the library. [1]- Nunh-huh 06:44, 31 May 2018 (UTC)

On the face of it there seems no reason why there shouldn't be a complete list of all those lost classical works of which we have the title or some description – there is such a thing for lost Old and Middle English literature – but I haven't been able to find one. Scope for a Wikipedia article perhaps? --Antiquary (talk) 09:51, 31 May 2018 (UTC)

And belatedly I discover that we have one, albeit far from complete. --Antiquary (talk) 10:08, 31 May 2018 (UTC)

Number of audio CD titles in print

Hi, I'm striking out on determining how many audio CD titles are currently in print (for sale new). Trying to put in perspective guitarist friend's excitement on pre-release sales ranking of 1,332 of Here We Go Love by The English Beat. Didn't find answer in quick skim of compact disk - perhaps a reliable source could be used to add this factoid to article. Thanks! -- Paulscrawl (talk) 16:21, 30 May 2018 (UTC)

Asking for "music CD" on Amazon, it says "over 4,000,000 results". Of course, many CDs will create multiple results there. -Arch dude (talk) 18:39, 30 May 2018 (UTC)

Thanks Arch dude. I'm really looking for the audio music equivalent of Bowker's Books in Print for a citable reliable source. Appreciate your efforts. -- Paulscrawl (talk) 04:38, 31 May 2018 (UTC)

Paulscrawl -- audio recordings never adopted the equivalent of ISBN, which makes a central registry more difficult. However, several times in early 1980s record stores, I saw a large and frequently-updated volume of the LPs/cassettes that were available to be ordered through major record companies and distributors. I have no idea what it was called, or if it still exists in any form today... AnonMoos (talk) 15:04, 31 May 2018 (UTC)

I bet that the record-store reference was Phonolog, which no longer exists as such. That article suggests that the successor to Phonolog is Muze, but as I pursue the Muze links, it's not clear whether their products are readily available to the general public. Herbivore (talk) 13:03, 4 June 2018 (UTC)

Thank you, Herbivore, I browsed the site and conclude Muze is a commercial metadata offering for music audio vendors. It referenced using International Standard Recording Codes, a track-level ID burnt into compliant audio CDs that competes with other non-standard standards like MusicBrainzID, WannabeAmazonID, etc. Reminds me of how standards proliferate ;-) -- Paulscrawl (talk) 19:36, 4 June 2018 (UTC)

@Paulscrawl: I'm a more familiar with books than cds, but at least with books, you can't infer anything about a book's overall popularity with its momentary sales rank, which is computed multiple times a day. Amazon has millions of titles in stock, most of which sell zero copies on an average day. If on a particular day they sell 5 copies of some title (maybe because a review appeared somewhere), that small number of sales might be enough to put the book in the top 1000 for that day. But of course it will be back down in the dregs the next day. I expect it's similar with cds.

I remember reading someplace some years back that around 30K new CD titles were released annually, if that figure is of any help. It's probably lower now since streaming has supplanted (some) cd sales. I wouldn't put the sales figure into the article.

I edited out a session ID (privacy leak) and some other unneeded parameters from your amazon link. I don't think you were trying to spam us, but a few of us probably feel a little bit triggered anyway. 173.228.123.166 (talk) 18:56, 3 June 2018 (UTC)

Thank you, AnonMoos: what a strange industry with no equivalent of ISBN. Seems my question is unanswerable.

And 173.228.123.166, thank you for providing annual releases perspective and a helpful edit to my malformed Amazon link. It certainly was not posted as spam, but meant solely to provide access to where the number came from, as an aid to respondents. The query came from a friend who played guitar on a couple of sessions and I was attempting to dampen his expectations for significant royalties. Any impression of possible spam intent, while understandable, is belied by a glance at my spotless history here. Thanks for pointing it out. I have deleted the link.

As indicated in original query, I had no intention of touching the article on the band or its release with a trivial sales ranking, but was referring to the # of CD audio titles for sale overall, information still unanswered (unanswerable?) in our compact disk article.

WikiData or MusicBrainz may help. Latter is CC0 and so incorporated in WikiData. If a for sale status field is available, a query might answer question. -- Paulscrawl (talk) 23:31, 3 June 2018 (UTC)

Slave prostitution in pre-Civil-War America?

I've read that in slave-holding US states, owners legally had sexual access to their slaves. To what extent was this right transferable for compensation? In other words, what restrictions if any would have prevented a slave owner from prostituting his slaves? NeonMerlin 20:02, 30 May 2018 (UTC)

Slavery in the United States#"Fancy ladies" states (but with no source), "The sexual use of black slaves by white gentlemen men, either slave owners or those who could purchase the temporary services of a slave, took various forms." I remember reading somewhere they had a term for the Southern "hospitality" practice of a slave owner providing his guests with sexual access to his slaves - "nutmegging". Clarityfiend (talk) 00:12, 31 May 2018 (UTC)

This discussion has been closed. Please do not modify it.
The following discussion has been closed. Please do not modify it.
On the other hand, I am not sure that the economics of prostitution works in a slave based society. There is not much money in it for the slave owner (why would a potential customer pay to use your prostituted slave, when he can buy a slave of his own and use her whenever he wants?) Blueboar (talk) 00:49, 31 May 2018 (UTC) The age-old dilemma: Rent or buy? I would have thought that religious folks would have frowned on it, but according to History of prostitution, it wasn't widely made illegal in America until well after slavery was ended. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 00:54, 31 May 2018 (UTC) NeonMerlin, please ignore Blueboar's unwarranted and unwelcome speculation and Baseball Bugs's renewed and chronic disruptions to this Reference Desk. Sorry that you found my comment unwarranted and unwelcome. The intent was to give a serious answer to a serious question. Blueboar (talk) 11:27, 31 May 2018 (UTC)

History of sexual slavery in the United States references one reliable source, which I've just updated, as the article is readily available via JSTOR and thus to dedicated Wikipedia editors like you, I hope, via a simple request at WP:RX. Copy and paste your request for knowledge there and summarize and cite to expand ours here.

Baptist, Edward E. (2001). ""Cuffy," "Fancy Maids," and "One-Eyed Men": Rape, Commodification, and the Domestic Slave Trade in the United States". The American Historical Review. 106 (5): 1619–1650. doi:10.2307/2692741. JSTOR 2692741.

-- Paulscrawl (talk) 05:46, 31 May 2018 (UTC)