MS Paris, Bibliothèque des Missions étrangères 1069: The French-Arabic Dictionary of François Pétis de la Croix (1653-1713)?

This paper analyses an anonymous French-Arabic dictionary preserved in Paris, Bibliotheque des Missions etrangeres. I argue that it seems to be a copy of a dictionary compiled by the early modern French Orientalist and diplomat Francois Petis de la Croix, the younger. Beyond the question of authorship, I survey the themes and structure of the dictionary and discuss the compiler’s cultural insights into Ottoman and Safavid societies and the cultural barriers that his translations reveal