Almost exactly thirty years ago, in the pages of the Research Bulletin of the Centre of Arabic Documentation (University of Ibadan), I drew attention to the lack of basic biographical and bibliographical tools on which the student of Islam in West Africa could draw. I envisaged a longterm project to remedy this deficiency, with the work of Carl Brockelmann as my model. It never occurred to me then that it might take half a lifetime to complete. Yet finally, with the help of many friends and collaborators, …