Journal of Ottoman Calligraphy

Designated as a National Resource Center of Excellence, the Center for Near Eastern Studies supports the enrichment of the UCLA Library’s sizeable material collection which is available to students and scholars, researchers and professionals, precollegiate teachers and the public.

The Library’s Middle East and Islamic studies research collection is the largest in the western United States, with over 500,000 volumes including publications from the Middle East and from diaspora communities in the West. Middle East Bibliographer David Hirsch maintains a web portal and numerous specialized databases to assist researchers. The Department of Special Collections houses over 10,000 manuscripts in Arabic, Armenian, Hebrew, Ottoman Turkish and Persian. Other specialized collections are housed in the Art, Biomedical, Music and Law Libraries.

The Gustav E. von Grunebaum Center for Near Eastern Studies at UCLA encourages, coordinates and integrates instruction and research in the humanities and the social sciences, business, law, medicine and the media, and in all languages essential to an understanding of the Near East. The Center pioneered study and research on the large and diverse Middle Eastern American communities in the United States. As one of the largest National Resource Centers in the US, CNES fosters public education programs and research projects of interest to the academic and professional communities and to the broader public in metropolitan Los Angeles and throughout Southern California.

The Center serves as a conduit for contacts among scholars of the Middle East and the Islamic world through its resident scholar program. Visitors appointed as Center Fellows can make use of UCLA’s extensive research facilities, including a rare manuscript collection and library holdings that are the second largest in North America. The Near East Center is an intellectual home for scholars from various academic institutions in California and for independent scholars who contribute to the regular program of colloquia, workshops, lectures, conferences and a variety of outreach activities sponsored year-round by the Center.

Center for Near Eastern Studies
10286 Bunche Hall
Los Angeles, CA 90095-1480
Campus mailcode: 148003
Tel: 310-825-1181
Fax: 310-206-2406
cnes@international.ucla.edu

Source:http://www.isop.ucla.edu/cnes/

Rare Book Review is the world’s leading magazine for all those who love, collect and/or deal in rare and valuable books.

Launched in 1974, the magazine was originally called Antiquarian Book Monthly Review, but its title was recently changed to Rare Book Review to reflect the fact that it covers printed items of all kinds, with the proviso that they should be rare and sought-after.

Our coverage is twofold. The first half of the magazine comprises features on every aspect of book dealing and collecting — including interviews with distinguished collectors, surveys of important collections, both public and private, and profiles of important authors, illustrators and publishers — and regular columns by leading dealers from both Britain and America.

The rear of the magazine, ‘Essential Listings’, is devoted to vital information about the book trade, including details of all the major auctions, fairs and catalogues, as well as previews and reviews of the most important sales.

Each month our ‘Essential Knowledge’ section offers a wide-ranging and informative introduction to a particular area of book collecting. Other features include book reviews, ‘New & Views’, ‘Spotlight’ profiles of major figures in the bookselling world, and a directory of important book-related websites.

The magazine is illustrated throughout in full colour and is produced to the highest standards. Ten issues are published a year.

Rare Book Review is truly international in scope, and we plan to increase our coverage of the book collecting scene in Europe, Asia and the United States. Other developments include the publication of special issues, which are largely – though never entirely – devoted to a single subject, be it a particular author, country or collecting area.

Source:Rare Book Review

Named after the great Abbasid dynasty library established in 832 and destroyed in the last invasion of Baghdad by the Mongols in 1258, the House of Wisdom had been installed in 1995 in one of the few surviving 13th century Abbasid structures in Baghdad. This building was the site of the first Iraqi parliament. The institution had a small collection of 100 manuscripts but these included a 9th century Koran and an Ibn Sina text of philosophy. The institution possessed a 5,500-volume set of documents from the British foreign office, US congressional documents concerning the 1940 coup in Iraq, a number of documents concerning the Jewish community in Baghdad, as well as Ottoman property registrations and court documents. Although these collections were all copies, the originals were held in the National Library and may have burnt.

On April 11, the facilities were looted. An Ottoman costume exhibit was looted in addition to furniture and moveable parts of the building. The looters retuned the next day, stealing the library’s most valuable manuscripts and books. The facility was then torched. Witness have reported that the arsonists \”were instigated,\” according to Al-Tikriti’s report, which does not indicate by whom. Books from the collection have been seen for sale on the streets of Baghdad.

Source: http://oi.uchicago.edu/OI/IRAQ/mela/melairaq.html

The semi-private al-Awqaf Library, founded in 1920, is the oldest heritage institution in Iraq. It is situated near the Ministry of Health in Baghdad. It contained 45,000 rare printed books of which 6,000 were in the Ottoman script as well as a number of special collections. The staff was able to put 5,250 of 7, 000 in safekeeping, including a collection of Korans.

Spurr’s report does not contain a comprehensive description of the horrible fate of this institution, but the Middle East Library Association has published on its web site an earlier report by University of Chicago graduate student Nabil Al-Tikriti in June 2003 and another report written a year later by the Iraqi archivist Zain Al-Naqshbandi.

On April 13 or 14, 2003, arsonists completely destroyed the library. All of the 45,000 books, including Ottoman manuscripts and a collection of rare medical texts, were burnt, and much of the library’s equipment such as Xerox machines, air conditioners, and bookbinding materials appears to have been looted previously (looting of equipment was the rule for other libraries as well). The 5,250 manuscripts remain undamaged.

The US military bears responsibility for the destruction of another 1,744 manuscripts. These had been removed before the fire and placed under armed guard at the Qadiriyya Mosque complex. Operating under a policy to shoot armed Iraqis on sight, US forces killed the guard on April 13. The al-Awqaf staff returned these manuscripts to the library, now unguarded because of the American \”rules of engagement.\” These manuscripts were either looted or incinerated.

The arson itself bears a particularly suspicious and notorious character in Iraq. According to Al-Tikriti’s report and press accounts at the time, approximately 15 Arab males using an incendiary substance systematically burned the library. Two other men from this group videotaped the arson.

Many Iraqis believe, as the American press has also reported, that the arsonists, based on the dialect they were overheard using, were Kuwaitis. This supposition, however, remains unproven.

No international agency appears to have come to the assistance of this library.

Source:http://oi.uchicago.edu/OI/IRAQ/mela/melairaq.html

The Iraqi National Library and Archive contained 12 million documents. In addition to a substantial book library, it may have had the largest collection of Arabic newspapers in the world. It housed documents from the period of the Hashmenite monarchy (1920-1958) and the Turkish Ottoman period (1534-1918) as well as documents from the Republican period after 1958 to recent times.

Shortly before the invasion in 2003, staff members and Shia clerics removed nearly 40 percent of the book collection and some of the documents for safekeeping. Clerics also had a steel door to one of the collections welded shut and it remained safe.

An entire wing of the library, the Old Library, was almost completely destroyed. This area housed documents from the Republican era, which may have been the reason for the fires.

Also completely destroyed was the microfilm collection of periodicals and other documents. Dr. Saad Eskander, the library’s Director-General, estimates that 60 percent of the Hashmenite documents were destroyed.

A portion of the documents that were removed by the Islamic clerics faced another disaster. These were stored in the basement of the Board of Tourism, which was deliberately flooded by looters.

Dr. Saad B. Eskander, Director General of the Iraq National Library and Archive, has described the events of mid-April, 2003 as a “national disaster beyond imagination.”

Source:http://oi.uchicago.edu/OI/IRAQ/mela/melairaq.html

Turkish Studies

The Turkish Studies Department of Leiden University is one of the largest research and teaching departments in its field in Europe. It has a permanent staff of six, one of whom is permanently stationed in Istanbul and eight additional staff members with non-tenured positions. It offers BA,MA, M.Phil and PhD degrees.The department maintains links with the Turkish academic and intellectual world, resulting in a constant inflow of Turkish MA and PhD students. The Department offers a MA programme in European Studies jointly with Istanbul Bilgi University, and a MA programme in Turkish Studies with Sabancı University in Istanbul. These programmes are taught partly in Istanbul and partly in Leiden. The teaching is enhanced with regular guest lectures by professors from other universities from the Netherlands and abroad. The department of Turkish Studies combines expertise in the languages of the region with historically oriented research programmes. The department has strong national and international links, in particular with the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS, London), the EHESS (Paris), the International Institute of Social History, (IISH, Amsterdam), and Bilgi and Sabancı Universities (Istanbul).

The Turkology Update Leiden Project (TULP) is a unique initiative of Leiden University’s Department of Turkish Languages and Cultures (until recently part of the Department of Languages and Cultures of the Islamic Middle East) and Projectgroup Computer Supported Education (COO). It started December 1997 and its first results were published on the World Wide Web by April 1998. The TULP-pages are continually updated and expanded; so watch out for News. TULP will provide a specifically Turkological introduction to the Web for Leiden University’s students of Turkology as well as for the general public interested in aspects of Turkey and Central Asia. Our database of relevant sites will be continually updated and new sites added to our pages.

TULP’s main pages feature A Curricular WebGuide for Turkology, A Topical WebGuide for Turkology and Interactive Turkish Texts (in Dutch).

The curricular guide lists all of the department’s courses, with a selection of sites for each of them. This selection was designed for our students and is incorporated in our courses as a study assignment. This section forms the core of TULP.

Whereas the curricular guide lists only a selection of our database of sites, the topical guide includes every site found and approved for selection. Note that this does in no way mean that it includes all WWW-sites on Turkey or Central Asia, or even all good sites on a specific topic. The database was in fact created for the curricular guide and the topical guide may thus exclude important or even key-sites. Moreover, the character of the Web is such that some types of information can be found in abundance (news, statistical information, etc.) and some are extremely rare (grammar, manuscripts, etc.). We will try to fill these gaps as soon as possible. Suggestions are most welcome and can be sent to M.E. Yıldırım

The Turkology Update Leiden Project(TULP)

TULP’s Database of Interactive Turkish Texts was developed as a tool for our students, combining easily accessible vocabulary and idiom lists with the department’s grammar specialist D. Koopman’s grammatical and syntactical comments and references to his and Dr. Geoffrey Lewis’ Turkish grammar. In April 1998 -when TULP first went online- it consisted of three texts, but new ones will continually be added. It will be used in six of the department’s courses (Modern Turkish Grammar, Grammatical Text Analysis, Sentence Structure 1, Sentence Structure 2, Conversation A and Conversation B). The database is only of use to speakers of Dutch and requires a Java-capable browser.

Source: TULP

History of Ottoman and Turkish Studies at Harvard University

Harvard University has a long tradition of teaching and research in the fields of Turkish and Ottoman studies. As early as the nineteenth century, courses on Ottoman history were taught at the University. However, during the past three decades, Turkish and Ottoman studies have been expanded and integrated more thoroughly into the curriculum. The program has grown stronger most recently with the addition of area studies faculty and the enhancement of the Turkish language program. These developments have resulted in greater student interest and the establishment of new research projects. (more…)

“A monstrous and inhuman race of men,” Mathew Paris called the Mongols in the 12th century. They “feed on raw flesh, and even on human beings,” he wrote in his history, Chronica Majora.” They are incomparable archers,…impious and inexorable men.”

Written by Shelia S. Blair

The Mongols themselves traded on this reputation to intimidate their enemies. “Our horses are swift,…our swords like thunderbolts, our hearts as hard as the mountains…. We are not moved by tears nor touched by lamentations,” they warned the Mamluk sultan Qutuz. And in fact, the reputation was largely deserved. Genghis Khan was as brutal as he was brilliant, uniting disparate Turko-Mongolian tribes to form the most extensive land empire known to history, stretching from the Yellow Sea to the Caucasus Mountains. In February 1258, his grandson Hülegü sacked and burned Baghdad in one of the bloodiest conquests of the age, whose aftershocks shook the entire Islamic world. (more…)

Harvard’s collection of Islamic and later Indian art is small but magnificent. It comprises a broad range of works, from Samanid pottery and Mamluk calligraphy to Qajar lacquers and Ottoman textiles. The department is particularly strong, however, in painting. Its masterpieces, which rank among the finest in the United States, include a group of miniatures from the extraordinary 14th-century Great Mongol (”Demotte”) Shahnama, the Safavid master Mir Sayyid-’Ali’s Night-time in a Palace, and the miniatures of the “pocket-size” Divan of Anvari produced for the Mughal emperor Akbar. The department also has one of the most important representations of Rajasthani painting in the world.

The over 2,500 items in the collection include:

Fragment of a Velvet YastikPaintings and drawings from the Arab, Il Khanid, Timurid, Safavid, Qajar, Ottoman, Sultanate, Mughal, Deccani, Rajput, and British India periods; Illuminations; Calligraphy; Qur’ans and other manuscripts; Ceramics and tiles; Metalwork, including arms and armor; Textiles and rugs. The collection is displayed in thematically-oriented exhibitions in the Islamic Gallery on the second floor of the Arthur M. Sackler Museum. (more…)

The Tablet and the Pen: Drawings from the Islamic World uses 28 examples from Turkey, Iran and India to explore the development of drawing as an independent artistic medium; as part of the process of design for paintings, textiles and metalwork; and as a catalyst for artistic experimentation. It emphasizes aspects of technique and illuminates the historical circumstances that affected the development of the medium and the increased demand for single-sheet drawings in the 16th and 17th centuries. Sackler Museum, Cambridge, Massachusetts, through July 23, 2006

Islamic and Later Indian Art
email: erinhyde@fas.harvard.edu
phone: (617) 495 - 1195
Mailing Address: Arthur M. Sackler Museum, 32 Quincy Street, Cambridge, MA 02138

Source: Sackler Museum

The Metropolitan Museum’s collection of Islamic art, which ranges in date from the seventh to the nineteenth century, reflects the great diversity and range of Islamic culture and offers perhaps the most comprehensive permanent installation of Islamic art on view anywhere. Nearly 12,000 objects created in the cultural tradition of the world’s youngest monotheistic religion (Islam, founded in A.D. 622, means “submission to God”) have been assembled at the Metropolitan from as far westward as Spain and Morocco and as far eastward as Central Asia and India. While many of these objects were originally intended for decoration of a mosque or for use during worship, domestic and luxury objects in the collection reveal the mutual influence of artistic practice in the sacred and secular realms. In particular, the traditions of calligraphy, vegetal ornament (the arabesque), and geometric patterning are strongly expressed in most pieces on view.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art
1000 Fifth Avenue at 82nd Street
New York, New York 10028-0198
General Information: 212-535-7710
TTY: 212-570-3828 or 212-650-2551

Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Islamic collection was expanded in the 1920s under the leadership of the first curator of Near Eastern art. The arts of Islam are exhibited adjacent to the galleries of Asian Art on the first floor and includes the book arts, calligraphy and miniature painting, and objects of glass, ivory, lacquer, wood, and stone, with strong collections of metalwork, ceramics, and textiles. Representing the works of an extraordinarily wide range of cultures and civilizations from antiquity to the present, the Middle Eastern, Islamic and Asian Art Collection includes pieces from a broad geographical arc including the Middle East and Asia.The collection was established in 1890 with Detroit pharmaceutical manufacturer Frederick K. Stearns’ gift to the museum of thousands of pieces from the Middle East and Asia. The collections of Ancient and Islamic Art and that of Asian Art developed separately over the years, with several key acquisitions like the nearly 4,000 year old statue of Gudea of Lagash from Mesopotamia/Babylon (present-day Iraq) and the monumental Head of Buddha from Korea. In 2003, the collections were merged into the Middle Eastern, Islamic, and Asian Art Collection.

As part of its activities the department has also presented major exhibitions of Egyptian, Near Eastern, Classical, and Islamic art and curators have participated in excavations in Iraq and Egypt.

© 2005 The Detroit Institute of Arts

The Los Angeles County Museum of Art houses one of the most significant collections of Islamic art in the world. These widely diverse arts, from an area extending from southern Spain to Central Asia , trace the distinctive visual imagination of Islamic artists over a period of fourteen hundred years. The collection is comprised of over 1,700 works, of which some 150 examples are on view; these include glazed ceramics, inlaid metalwork, enameled glass, carved wood and stone, and manuscript illustration, illumination, and calligraphy. Particular strengths of the collection are glazed pottery and tiles from Iran and Turkey ; glass, especially from the late seventh to the mid-thirteenth century; and Persian and Turkish arts of the book.

The museum began to concentrate seriously on Islamic art in 1973, with the acquisition of the Nasli M. Heeramaneck Collection, the generous gift of Joan Palevsky. Although the Heeramaneck collection forms the nucleus of the Islamic holdings, the focus and scope of the collection have developed considerably since 1973. Two important additions, both gifts, occurred in the 1980s. In 1985 the noted collector Edwin Binney, 3rd, bequeathed more than one hundred works, in particular, examples of the arts of the book and ceramics of the Ottoman period. Approximately fifty glass objects, primarily of the early Islamic period, from Hans and Varya Cohn’s splendid collection were given to the museum in 1988. The collection has been augmented further over the past two decades through gift and purchase, most notably the acquisition in 2002 of the Madina Collection of Islamic Art, made possible in large part by a generous gift from long-time LACMA benefactor and Trustee Camilla Chandler Frost. Its addition has created a new international focus on Los Angeles and on LACMA.

Source: Los Angeles County Museum of Art. All rights reserved

The Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilization (NELC) is devoted to teaching and research concerning the principal cultures and languages of the Near and Middle East, including Central Asia, emphasizing not only their contemporary manifestations but also their ancient and medieval roots, and their significance within the history of world civilizations.

Our language and thematic curricula investigate major literary and cultural traditions. Arabic, Persian, Tajik, Turkish, and Central Asian Turkic (such as Uzbek, Kazakh, and Kirghiz) are the languages of the most significant manifestations of Islamic civilization. Hebrew and Aramaic are languages of the Bible, and central to Judaism and Jewish culture. A rich and vast heritage from other ancient Near Eastern cultures is explored through study of languages and literatures such as Egyptian (Hieroglyphic, Coptic), Akkadian, Ugaritic, Phoenician, and Syriac.

In this endeavor NELC is committed to excellence in interdisciplinary research, historical and linguistic training, innovative pedagogical approaches to learning, and expanding awareness of and appreciation for non-Western cultures, past and present.

CONTACT INFORMATION
Department of Near Eastern
Languages and Civilization
Box 353120
University of Washington
Seattle, Washington 98195-3120
Phone: (206) 543-6033
Fax: (206) 685-7936
http://depts.washington.edu/nelc/

Souce: University of Washington

This dictionary is part of the Ottoman Texts Archive Project at the University of Washington and is developed by three Informatics students for their capstone project.

Contact

Dictionary Director - Semih Tezcan.
Project Director - OTAP | Walter G. Andrews. walter@u.washington.edu
Project Mentor - CARTAH | Stacy Waters. stacy@u.washington.edu
Project Members - Information School | Informatics undergraduate

* Khanhvy K. Doan khanhvy@u.washington.edu
* Eddie Hong W. Lau elau@u.washington.edu
* Anna Stolyar as0@u.washington.edu

Source: University of Washington

What is OTAP?

* OTAP is a cooperative international project employing computer technology and the resources of the World Wide Web to make transcribed Ottoman texts and resources for understanding Ottoman texts broadly accessible to international audiences.

* OTAP is jointly sponsored by the University of Washington in Seattle and Bilkent University in Ankara, Turkey under the direction of Professor Walter G. Andrews (U.W.) and Professor Mehmed Kalpaklı (Bilkent). The project has been supported by the Center for Advanced Research and Technology in the Arts and Humanities at the University of Washington, the Halil İnalcık Center for Ottoman Studies at Bilkent University, the Institute of Turkish Studies, and the University of Washington Royalty Research Fund. OTAP has an Advisory Board made up of 8 renown international scholars and an outstanding group of 6 experienced technical consultants. Our growing group of participating scholars now numbers over fifty and includes members from the Middle East, Asia, Europe, and North America.

* The core task of OTAP is the Web publication of transcribed Ottoman texts in searchable, analyzable form but the project also acts as a resource and umbrella for several related projects.

What are the related projects?

The Ottoman Historical Dictionary (OHD) is an electronic, on-line historical dictionary of the Ottoman language. It is still in the planning stages under the direction of an experienced and highly-regarded lexicographer, Prof. Semih Tezcan of Bamberg University in Germany. The dictionary will use Archive materials and materials collected for Prof. Tezcan’s Old Anatolian Turkish project to create a dictionary containing historically accurate definitions supported by examples on the general model of the Oxford English Dictionary. No comparable resource exists for Ottoman Turkish.

The Bio-bibliographical Database of Ottoman Literature (BIDOL) is an encyclopedia providing information about Ottoman authors and their works. Prof. Gottfried Hagen of the University of Michigan is in the process of developing the database structure for this project, which will encompass and expand upon the metadata core of the Archive. It will eventually provide a unmatched resource for information about knowledge production in the Ottoman Empire.

The Critical Texts Group headed by Prof. Mustafa İsen of Başkent University in Ankara, Turkey, this group is conducting a survey of Ottoman manuscripts (of which there are approximately 600,000 in Turkish libraries and many thousands in Europe and the U.S.) in order to create a prioritized list of manuscripts to be transcribed and edited for publication in the Archive. No similar list exists today.

Contacts

Walter Andrews
Near Eastern Languages and Civilization
Box 353120
229 Denny Hall
University of Washington
Seattle, Washington 98195
walter@u.washington.edu
http://faculty.washington.edu/walter

Source: Ottoman Text Archive Project

by: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Günsel Renda, Hacettepe University, ANKARA

One of the richly illustrated manuscripts of the sixteenth century is the Zubdat-al Tawarikh in the Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts in Istanbul, dedicated to Sultan Murad III in 1583. The manuscript contains forty miniatures of the finest quality reflecting the mature Ottoman court style of the latter part of the sixteenth century.

The art of Ottoman Turkish miniature painting reached its peak in the sixteenth century, especially during the reigns of Suleyman the Magnificent and Murad III, who were both great patrons of art responsible for the uninterrupted output of the imperial ateliers during this period. Most of the miniatures executed in the sixteenth century took their subjects from Ottoman history illustrating major political and social events of the time. Less attention was given to producing literary manuscripts. Illustrated religious texts which increased in number later in the century very often remained in a historical framework. That is, in some of the major books on world history, Ottoman sultans were linked genealogically with Koranic and Biblical prophets. The Zubdat-al Tawarikh is a book of that nature where the text is a summary of Biblical and political world history covering the creation of the world, stories of the prophets and prominent historical figures of the past, and largely Turkish history to the time of the reigning sultan Murad III, also including genealogical accounts of the first twelve Ottoman sultans. The author was Seyyid Loqman Ashuri, the prolific historiographer of the Ottoman court during the period of Murad III, who in his introduction explains how he compiled this world history from different sources. (more…)

Tevki’ ve onun incesi olan rıkaa’ hattının mahalli anlayışlarla işlenmesi sonunda İran’da ortaya çıkışıyla -asılmış gibi duran harflerinden dolayı- bu yazıya ta’lik adı verilmiş; bu kadim ta’lik hattı, o ülkede devlet yazışmalarını yürüten münşiler tarafından çok kullanılıp geliştirilmiştir. Kuruluşundan itibaren, devletin resmi yazısı olarak tevki’ -ve nadiren rıkaa’- hattına yer veren Osmanlılar, Fatih’in Akkoyunlular’la savaşması (1462) sonunda, onların divan katiplerinin İstanbul’a getirilişiyle bu ta’lik hattını tanımaya başladılar. Anılan yazının kısa zamanda büyük bir değişikliğe uğramasıyla divani hattı, Osmanlı karakterini kazanmış olarak ortaya çıktı; bunun harekelerle bezenmiş ve daha gelişmiş şekli de celi divani adıyla üst seviyedeki resmi yazışmalara XVI. asırdan itibaren tahsis olundu. Resmi işler haricinde kullanılmasına cevaz verilmeyen ve sadece Divan-ı Hümayun’da öğretilen her iki yazı da, bilhassa XIX. yüzyılda en mükemmel seviyesine ulaşıp, bu hal XX. yüzyılda da devam etti. Okuyup yazılması diğer yazı nevilerine göre çetrefil olan ve satır sonlan yükseltilerek bitirilen bu iki devlet yazısı, kolay okunmanın ve araya birşey yazılıp da tahrifata uğratılmamn önüne geçmek için mahsus seçilmiş, resmi yazışmalar da böylece teminat altına alınmış olsa gerektir.

Padişahın bütün yazılı emirlerinin (ferman, berat, menşur …) üstünde kendisinin ve babasının isimlerinin “el muzaffer daima” duasıyla birlikte yer aldığı tuğra şeklinin Osmanlılar’daki en iptidai örneğine Orhan Gazi’de rastlanır (1324). XV. ve hele XVI. yüzyıllarda mutena tezhipli örneklerine hala hayranlık duyulan padişah tuğraları, zaman içinde görünüşüyle bozulmuş ve XVIII. yüzyıl sonlarında yeni bir nisbet arayışına girilmiştir Nihayet, yukarıda anılan Mustafa Rakım, III. Selim’den itibaren tuğra şeklini cidden ıslah etmiş ve bu hal II. Mahmut tuğrasında belirgin bir görünüş kazanmıştır. Daha sonra Sami Efendi’nin elinde, matematik ve estetik kavramlarının işbirliğiyle, tuğra son şeklini II. Abdülhamit zamanında almıştır.

Aklam-ı sitte dışında Osmanlılar’da çok beğenilen bir yazı cinsi de ta’lik hattıdır. Diğerlerinin aksine, ta’lik -Arapça’da harflerin kısa seslendirilmesinde kullanılan- hareke işaretlerine yer verilmeden, çıplak ve sade bir görünüşle yazılır ve bu sebeple Türkçe’ye de uyumlu gelir. Sanat eserleri dışında divanların, şer’i ve kazai hükümlerin kaleme alınmasında geniş bir kullanılma sahası bulmuş olan ta’likin doğuş sahası İran’dır. Yukanda anılan kadim ta’lik hattının çokça işlenmesi sonunda geçirdiği safhalar, onda değişikliğe sebep olmuş ve bu yeni yazı nevine -herhalde ta’likı ortadan kaldırdığı için- neshta’lik adı verilmiştir. Zamanla nesta’lik e dönüşen bu ismi benimsemeyip ta’lik adını tercih eden Osmanlılarda, yazının isminde olduğu kadar, tavrında da farklılıklar doğmuştur.

XV. yüzyılın ikinci yansından başlayarak, bilhassa ince (hürde, hafi) şekliyle kitaplarda görülmeye başlanan ta’lik hattı, nesta’lik üslubuna bağlı kalınmak suretiyle Osmanlı topraklarında da yayılmıştır. İran’ın büyük ismi Mir İmadü’l-Haseni (1554?-1615)’nin mükemmel tavrı, onun öğrencisi Derviş Abdi (? - 1647) eliyle İstanbul’a getirilmiş ve sanat çevrelerinde hemen benimsenmiştir. Bu sebeple XVIII. yüzyılda eser veren Durmuşzade Ahmed (? - 1717), Katibzade Mehmed Refı’ (? - 1768), Şeyhülislam Veliyüddin (? - 1768) efendiler gibi Osmanlı ta’lik hattattan hep İmad-ı Rum (= Anadolu’nun İmad’ı) veya İmad-ı sani (=İkinci İmad) ünvanlarıyla anılmışlardır. Dedezade Mehmed Efendi (? - 1759)’nin yetiştirdiği ve sağ tarafı felçli olduğundan sol eliyle yazdığı için Yesari lakabıyla anılan Mehmed Es’ad Efendi (? -1798), İmad’ın yazılarını bir estetik kıymetlendirmeye tabi tutmuş; yaptığı isabetli seçimle 1780′de ortaya çıkan yeni tavır, artık Osmanlı ta’lik üslubu olmuştur. Yesarizade Mustafa İzzet Efendi (17707-1849) de, babasının noksanlarını tamamlayarak bilhassa celi ta’lik hattında emsalsiz bir yol almış ve çok eserler vermiştir. Aynı yolu daha da titizlikle sürdüren Sami Efendi ise, Nazif Bey, Hulusi Yazgan (1869-1940), Ömer Vasfı ve Necmeddin Okyay (1883-1976) gibi kıymetli öğrencileriyle bu güzelliği Türkiye Cumhuriyeti yıllarına kadar aktarmıştır.

Osmanlılar’da maliye ve tapu kayıdlarının tutulduğu siyakat hattının sanat tarafı bulunmadığından burada sadece ismi anılmaktadır. Günlük el yazısının da her yazanın elinde kazandığı farklılık neticesi, XIX. yüzyılda bu da bir nizama bağlanmış ve rık’a hattı olarak adlandırılmıştır. Bunun resmi ve süratli yazışmalara tahsis edilenine Bab-ı-Ali rık’ası, sıkı kaidelere bağlı olanına İzzet Efendi (1841-1903) rik’ası denilmektedir ki, bu sonuncusu Arap aleminde sanat yazısı gibi benimsenmiştir.

Osmanlılarda beş yüzyıla yakın bir zaman süresince milli hüviyet göstererek devam eden ve en mükemmel seviyesine XIX.-XX. yüzyıllarda erişen hat sanatının mahsulleri de -anılan yüzyıllarda- geçmişe göre çoğalmıştır. Bunda, her nevi hattın en göze çarpıcı şekli olan celinin de aynı devrede tekamül edişi kadar, buna bağlı diğer bir sebep de, yazılma sahası olarak tercih edilen levhaların ve hem sivil, hem de dini mimaride -ekseriya mermere oyulup da- dış cephede yer alan kitabelerin artışının rolü bulunmaktadır. Eski devirlerde Mushaf, divan v.b. gibi yazma kitaplara; kıt’a denilen, bir veya iki nevi hatla kağıdın sadece bir yüzüne yazılan ve etrafı da bezenmiş olan -yaklaşık kitap ebadındaki- parçalara; kıt’aların biraraya getirilmesiyle albüm şeklinde hazırlanan murakka’alara daha çok rastlanmaktadır.Celi sülüs ve celi ta’lik geliştikten sonra, bunlarla yazılan büyük boydaki levhalar da mekanları süslemeye başlamıştır. Hafız Osman’ın buluşu olarak hat sanatında yer alan ve İslam Peygamberi’nin harici ve ahlaki vasıflarını anlatan hilye levhalarına da, XIX. asırdan itibaren daha çok sayıda ve daha büyük ebadda yazılmış örnekleriyle rastlanmaktadır.

Osmanlı hattatları elbette burada ismi geçenlerden ibaret değildir, devir açanlar ve yukarıda anılanlardan başka, belirli seviyeyi aşmış yüzlerce ismi sıralamak mümkündür ve bunlar katib, nasih, nessah adlarıyla tanınan, yazma kitap çoğaltıcılarından ayrı olarak, sanat ehli kişilerdir.

Hattatların kullandığı edevat ve malzemenin de Osmanlı ince el sanatları arasında müstesna bir yeri vardır. Muhtelif renklere boyandıktan sonra ahar denilen cilalama usulü ile kullanılabilecek hale getirilen elyapısı kağıtlara yazmak için, is ve arapzamkı eriyiğinin havanda dövülmesiyle is mürekkebi, varak altının ezilmesiyle de altın mürekkebi elde edilir. Lal (kırmızı) ve zırnık (sarı) mürekkepleri de çok kullanılmıştır. Hokka ve kamış kalemin içinde saklandığı divit (silindir biçimindeyse: kubur), kalem açmada kullanılan kalemtraş ve makta’ gibi aletler, bunları imal ederek geçimini sağlayan bir sanatkar zümresinin doğmasına vesile olmuştur ki, hat şaheserlerinin yaraşıra bunlar da görenlerde hayranlık uyandırmaktadır.

Vakıf anlayışıyla kurulmuş olan Osmanlı öğretim müesseselerinde (mektep, medrese) veya üst öğretim veren Enderûn-ı Hümayun, Divan-ı Hümayun, Galata Sarayı gibi üniversite muadili resmi kuruluşlarda sürdürülen hat öğretimi, aslında en seviyeli ve yaygın şekliyle, hat hocasının evinde teberrüken (maddi karşılığı olmaksızın) gerçekleştirilirdi. Nihayet XX. yüzyıla gelindiğinde, bir devlet hat akademisi açılması düşünülerek, Evkaf Nazın ve Şeyhülislam Hayri Efendi (1867-1922)’nin delaletiyle, Cağaloğlu’ndaki tarihi Yusuf Ağa Sıbyan Mektebi’nde (bugün M.E.B. Yayın Bürosu’dur) Medresetü’l-Hattatin açılmıştır (1914). Hasan Rıza, Kamil (Akdik); Nuri (Korman, 1868-1951), Hulusi (Yazgan); Tuğrakeş İsmail Hakkı (Altunbezer); Mustafa Ferid (1857-?) gibi o devrin önde gelen hat üstadlarının hoca olarak bulunduğu bu medresede tezhip, cild, ebru, minyatür, ahar gibi sair kağıt ve kitap sanatları da öğretiliyordu. Birçok talebenin yetiştiği bu irfan yuvası, medreselerin lağvından (1925) sonra faaliyetini harf inkılabına kadar (1928) Hattat Mektebi adıyla devam ettirmiştir.

Sıkı bir disiplinle yürütülegelen usta-çırak öğretimi sonunda icazet (diploma) verilerek nesilden nesile intikal ettirilen hat sanatı, zaman içinde bünyesini yenileyebildiği ve diğer sanatların aksine Batı’dan tesir alacak bir yanı bulunmadığı için, Osmanlılarda, günü gününden ala olarak XX. yüzyıla kadar gelebilmiştir.

Source: Osmanlı Devleti ve Medeniyeti Tarihi , IRCICA, 1998

The library was opened to the public on 20 July 1984 by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. The foundation goal was to gather valuable manuscript collections around the country. Its complex consists of three stories which include 14 bureau, 3 depots and 4 reading halls. The usable field is 723 m2.

YUSUFAĞA MANUSCRIPTS LIBRARY

It was built by Yusufağa, the steward of Mihri Şah Sultan, Selim III’s mother. It is owned today by the General Directory of the Pious Foundations (Vakıflar Genel Müdürlüğü) in Ankara. Its complex consists of a single story with a dome. The usable field is 110 m2. It is bound to the Bölge Manuscripts Library.

MAKING USE OF BÖLGE (DISTRICT) MANUSCRIPTS LIBRARY COLLECTIONS

Directly From the Books: Researchers, after scanning the catalogues (on Dewey system) and filling in a request form, can see the books they are looking for. They should fill in a separate form for each book they are interested in it. After this process, the book is made ready in front of them. However it should be noted that except studying on different copies of a certain book, it is not possible to see all the books they want to see at once; only one book can be delivered on a certain time. The books are checked by the employee (who is in charge of delivering it) before the delivery. And they are checked when researchers submit them back to make sure that no harm is done to the books. The check includes miniatures, pages, in fact any small details on/in the books. Researchers can use their laptop computers if it does not have a camera.

The request forms should be submitted between 8.00 and 12.00 in the morning, and between 13.30 and 16.30 in the evening. The books which are being repaired cannot be delivered for study. In this case, a CD or microfilm of the book can be presented for the study if there is one. Book delivery times can be changed by the Governorship of Konya when necessary. The Library is also open on Saturdays.

Previously, foreign researchers needed to be in possession of valid “study permission” obtained via the representatives Turkey’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs in their homeland, and for short-term researches the library administration is authorized to give such permission. But according to a Karar (decision) issued on the Resmi Gazete (Official Newspaper) dated 10 November 2003 (karar no. 2003/6270), the library administration is authorized to give short as well as long term permisssions of study for foreign researchers. So, foreign researchers no longer need to have a “study permission” obtained via Turkey’s representatives of Ministry of Foreign Affairs in their homeland.

To be able to make use of library collections, a researcher:should leave a valid ID card to the information desk at the entrance, while studying the books, should put them on the table; not take it at hand or put it on knees, should not lean on the books, should not write down on the books, should not copy in any form, should not touch pages directly; should place a paper under her/his fingers during the reading, should not get her/his finger wet during turning the pages, should use only soft pencils during the whole study. Pen is not allowed.

To be able to get CD or micro film, a researcher should apply to the directorate of the library with a form in which he/she fills in:

- Register number of the book he/she wants to study on,

- His/her name and surname

- Page numbers she/he wants to obtain a copy,

- Purpose of the study

It is important to note here that the researcher should make a written agreement that in case his/her study in which a collection from the library used is published, he/she will deliver a copy of it to the library. The agreement should be accompanying of a copy of his/her ID card.

In case the library directory sees it appropriate, the CD or microfilm is submitted to the researcher following the payment of the necessary fees according to “the rules and regulations on making use of works belong to public institutions” issued on the Resmi Gazete (Official Newspaper) dated 16 October 1986 and numbered 19253. For the foreign researchers the same procedure is to be applied.

MAKING USE OF YUSUFAĞA LIBRARY COLLECTIONS

To be able to study at Yusufağa Manuscripts Library, researchers should make an appointment with the Bölge Manuscripts Library as it is attached to this main library. Bölge Manuscripts Library’s telephone numbers are as follows: +90.332.3511216, and Telephone and Fax:+90.332.3507225. Other procedures are the same as in the Bölge Manuscripts Library. There is further possibility of using our computers while making use of the CD’s of the works located in Yusufağa Manuscripts Library.

CULTURAL SERVICES

At the Bölge Manuscripts Library complex, calligraphy and Ebru (the Turkish Painting Art) courses are being organized for more than a decade. Its halls can be used for some cultural and artistic activities and expositions as well. Many artists use its hall as location for their expositions.

Konya Bölge (District) Manuscripts Library
Adress: Bahçelievler Mah., Yavuz Selim Cad. No.152 Meram/KONYA/TURKEY
Tel:+90.332.3511216 Fax:+90.332.3507225

Source: Konya Bölge (District) Manuscripts Library

Abstract: A brief introduction of Ottoman libraries in turkish.

İlk kütüphane Osman Bey zamanında İznik’te, ikincisi ise Edirne’de Lala Şahin Paşa tarafından kuruldu.

Yıldırım Bâyezîd Han zamanında Bursa’da Eyne Subaşı Medresesinin üst katında bir kütüphane ile Eyne Subaşının Balıkesir’de yaptırdığı medresede bir kütüphane kuruldu. Fatih Sultan Mehmed Han İstanbul’u fethettikten sonra çeşitli îmar faaliyetleri arasında önemli kütüphaneler yaptırdı. Ayasofya yakınında yaptırdığı ilk medresenin yanında halka açık bir kütüphane kurdurdu. Fâtih Camii Külliyesi içinde yaptırdığı kütüphane, Zeyrek Camii Kütüphanesi, Eyüp Sultan Camii yanındaki kütüphaneler bu kütüphanelerin en meşhurlarıdır. Daha sonraki pâdişâhlar tarafından İstanbul’un yanında Amasya, Edirne, Bursa, Manisa, Trabzon ve başka şehirlerde de kütüphaneler kuruldu. Topkapı Sarayı bünyesinde kurulan Saray Kütüphanesi, Ayasofya, Süleymâniye, Şehzâdebaşı ve Bâyezîd kütüphaneleri zenginleştirilerek zamanımıza kadar gelmişlerdir.

Osmanlılar devrinde mîmârî açıdan müstakil bir binaya sahip olan ilk vakıf kütüphanesi Köprülü Fâzıl Ahmed Paşa tarafından yaptırılan ve Köprülü Fâzıl Mustafa Paşa tarafından vakfiyesi hazırlanarak tanzim edilen Köprülü Kütüphânesidir. Şehid Ali Paşa tarafından Vefâ’da yaptırılan kütüphane, Atıf Efendi tarafından Süleymâniye civarında yaptırılan Atıf Efendi Kütüphanesi, Nûruosmaniye Kütüphanesi ve Koska’da Koca Ragıb Paşa tarafından kurulan Ragıb Paşa Kütüphanesi de belli başlı Osmanlı kütüphaneleridir.

Sultan İkinci Mahmûd Han devrinde kurulan yeni kütüphanelerin, kitap vakıflarının yanında kütüphanelerin devlet tarafından kontrolünün ve düzenleme çalışmalarının yaygınlaştığı da görülmektedir. Bu devirde İstanbul’da kurulan kütüphanelerin çoğunluğu tekke kütüphaneleridir. Fâtih Kütüphanesi, Çarşamba’daki Murâd Molla Kütüphanesi, Sultan İkinci Mustafa’nın kızı Hatîce Sultan tarafından Unkapanı’nda kurulan Şâzeliyye Tekkesi Kütüphanesi, Galata Mevlevihânesi Kütüphanesi bu devirde kurulan kütüphanelerdendir. Sultan İkinci Mahmûd Han Medîne-i münevverede Mahmudiye adıyla bir kütüphane, Kıbrıs’ta Ayasofya Camiinde bir kütüphane kurdurdu. İlme, ilim adamlarına ve kitaba karşı aşırı merakı olan Sultan İkinci Abdülhamîd Han İstanbul ve başka Osmanlı ülkelerindeki kütüphaneleri tertip ve tanzim ettirerek fihristler düzenletti. Yıldız Sarayındaki Çit Kasrını kütüphane olarak tahsis ettirerek zamanının çoğunu burada geçirdi. Mısır’daki dağınık kütüphaneler toplanarak bugünkü adıyla Dârü’l-Kütübü’l-Mısrıyye diye bilinen Hidiv Kütüphanesi meydana getirildi.

1882′de Kütüphâne-i Umûmî-i Osmanî adıyla nizâmnâme çıkarılarak herkesin faydalanabileceği umûmî kütüphaneler kuruldu. Bâyezîd Devlet Kütüphanesi, İzmir, Kayseri, Konya, Eskişehir, Diyarbakır ve Bursa’da Millî Kütüphane adıyla kütüphaneler kuruldu. 1911′de temeli atılan Türk Ocağı ve taşra teşkilâtlarında kurulan kütüphaneler bir nevi halk kütüphanesi vazifesi gördü.

Cumhuriyet döneminde 1924′te çıkarılan Tevhid-i Tedrisat Kânunuyla vakıf kütüphânelerindeki koleksiyonlar, 1927′de çıkan kânunla tekke ve zaviyelerde bulunan eserler Maârif Vekâletine (Millî Eğitim Bakanlığına) bağlı kütüphanelere devredildi.

Peki, Dünyanın en değerli kitap hazinelerinden biri olan Topkapı Sarayı Kütüphanesi nasıl oluştu? Padişahlar ne gibi kitaplar okurlardı? Saray kitaplığında hangi kitaplar vardı? Çeyrek yüzyıl boyunca Topkapı Sarayı Kitaplığı’nda görev yapan ve halen sarayın yöneticisi olan Dr. Filiz Çağman bütün bu soruların cevabını verirken saray kitaplığının bilinmeyen yönlerini anlatıyor.

Topkapı Sarayı müze haline dönüştürüldüğü 1924 yılına kadar 400 yıla yakın bir süre Osmanlı padişahlarının ikametgahı, imparatorluğun idari merkezi ve her türlü devlet adamının yetiştirildiği bir eğitim kurumuydu. Bütün bunların yanında Osmanlı sanatının oluştuğu yegáne merkez yine saraydı.

Saray İstanbul’un fethinden sonra Fatih Sultan Mehmed tarafından 1460-1478 yılları arasında yaptırıldı ve asırlar boyunca ihtiyaca göre çeşitli yapılar ilávesiyle genişletildi. Bu ilginç kompleksi günümüzde gezen ziyaretçiler Osmanlı padişahlarının taşlarla bezeli değerli madenlerden yapılmış eşyalarının korunduğu hazineyi hayranlıkla izlerler. Fakat Osmanlı padişahlarının en çok değer verdikleri eserler başta Kur’an-ı Kerimler olmak üzere el yazması kitaplardı. Sayıları 18. yüzyıl başlarına kadar giderek artan bu kitaplar sultanların hazinesinde korunmuş, zaman zaman bunlardan bir kısmını okuma amacıyla has odalarına veya hareme getirterek muhafaza etmiş ve tekrar hazinelerine koydurmuşlardı.

18. yüzyıl başlarında Sultan Üçüncü Ahmed (1703-1830) Enderunlu ağalar için bir kütüphane binası yaptırarak kendi hazinesinden çok sayıda eseri buraya vakfetti. Kütüphane 9. yüzyıldan hükümdarın dönemine yani 18. yüzyıla kadar başta Arapça olmak üzere Farsça ve Türkçe kitaplardan oluşmaktaydı ve saray okulu demek olan Enderun’daki ağaların eğitimine uygun olarak çeşitli bilim dallarını kapsıyordu.

Bu kütüphaneyi Sultan Birinci Mahmud’un (1730-1754) 1733′te Revan Köşkü’ne has oda ağaları için kurup vakfettiği kütüphane izledi. Sultan Birinci Abdülhamid (1774-1789) ise Bağdat köşküne aynı amaçla bir başka kütüphane vakfetti. Osmanlı padişahları Enderun’daki bu kitaplıkların yanısıra İstanbul’da başka kütüphaneler de yaptırıp kitaplar bağışladılar.

İşte bu kütüphaneleri dolduran kitapların kaynağı olan Hazine kütüphanesinin zenginliği Osmanlı sultanlarının gerek içerik açısından, gerekse estetik beğenileri dolayısıyla kitap sanatına ne kadar büyük değer verdiklerini açıkça gösterir.

Yavuz Sultan Selim (1512-1520) ve Kanuni Sultan Süleyman (1520-1566) döneminde sarayın kitap hazinesi giderek büyüdü. Saray koleksiyonunun önemli bir bölümü ganimet ve hediye yolu ile oluşurken saray nakkaşhanesinde de Osmanlı kitap sanatının seçkin örnekleri hazırlanıyor, resimlerle ve tezhiplerle bezeniyordu.

Hükümdarların tükenmeyen ilgileri bu koleksiyonların zenginleşmesini sağladı. Topkapı Sarayı’nın kütüphaneleri padişahların verdikleri kitap siparişleriyle ve kendilerine gelen hediyelerle bugünkü saygın ve özel konumuna ulaştı. Bu kitaplıklar 8. yüzyıldan 19. yüzyıla dek uzanan bir zaman dilimi içerisinde Cebelitarık’tan Hindistan’a kadar İslam dünyasının geniş coğrafyasında hazırlanmış en seçkin ve önemli el yazması eserleri barındırır.

Bunun yanısıra Topkapı Sarayı koleksiyonlarında Osmanlı İmparatorluğu’nun geniş hudutları içinde bulunan özellikle Balkan kültürlerinin önemli ve değerli kitaplarıyla batılı ülkelerden armağan edilen çeşitli baskı kitaplar da bugüne kadar özenle korunmuştir.

18 bin 500 civarında el yazması ve baskı kitabın yanısıra harita ve hat sanatı örneklerinin bulunduğu Topkapı Sarayı Müzesi Kütüphanesi, özellikle İslami hat, minyatür, tezhib ve cilt sanatının son derece zengin ve en ünlü koleksiyonudur.

Osmanlı hükümdarları kitapları sadece toplamakla kalmadılar, bizzat kendileri de çok sayıda eser, özellikle de ‘divan’ denilen şiir kitapları kaleme aldılar. Padişahların neredeyse tamamı şairdi ve bazıları Türk Edebiyatı’nın önde gelen isimlerinden sayılırdı. Bu hükümdarların cildi, yazısı ve tezhibi birbirinden nefis divanları Topkapı Sarayı Müzesi Kitaplığı’nın en seçkin parçalarından sayılır.

Saray kitaplığı Fatih Sultan Mehmed döneminde hazırlanmış çok değerli eserlerle doludur. Hıristiyan ve İslam dünyasının özellikle bilimsel eserlerine büyük ilgi duyduğu bilinen Fatih sarayda felsefe, tarih, coğrafya ve tıp konularında Arapça, Farsça ve Türkçe eserler hazırlattığı gibi, eski Yunanca kitaplar da yazdırmış, bunların arasına geçmişin seçkin el yazmalarını katmıştı.

Fatih’in oğlu İkinci Bayezid’in (1481-1512) kitaplar ve bu sanat dalına tutkusu en az babası kadardı. Tarihi belgeler bize bu sultanın 600′den fazla kitap toplamış olduğunu bildirmektedir.

Padişahlar arasında kitap sanatına ve kitaplara en düşkün olanlar İkinci Selim (1566-1574) ve özellikle de oğlu Üçüncü Murad’dır (1574-1595). Üçüncü Murad’ın döneminde Osmanlı hanedan tarihinin saray hattatları tarafından hazırlanmış kitaplarını ünlü nakkaşlar resimleyip bezediler. 15. yüzyılın Türkmenlerle Timur devletinden gelen eserleriyle beraber 16. yüzyıl Safevi kitap sanatının resimli örnekleri de hediye yoluyla Topkapı Sarayı Hazinesi’ne aktı. Birinci Mahmud’un Revan Köşkü’ne vakfettiği kütüphanede de ise her konuda seçme eserler bulunmasına rağmen tarihi eserler çoğunluktaydı.

Source: © 2003 KadinVeAile.com

Autor(en): Landau, Jacob M.
Titel: Exploring Ottoman and Turkish History
Ort: London
Verlag: C. Hurst & Co
Jahr: 2004
ISBN: 1-85065-752-1
Umfang/Preis: 433 S.; € 46,26

Rezensiert für H-Soz-u-Kult von:
Wolfgang G. Schwanitz, Deutsches Orient-Institut Hamburg

Dieser Band eines Meisters seiner Fächer vereint Schriften aus vier Jahrzehnten. Eine Hälfte widmet Jacob M. Landau der späten osmanischen Geschichte, die andere der Türkei und den von ihr geprägten Räumen im Kaukasus und in Mittelasien. Der emeritierte Professor für Politikwissenschaft an der Hebräischen Universität von Jerusalem hat den Band so geordnet, das er beispielhaft die Spannbreite seiner Interessen aufhellt. Neun Abschnitte umfassen Ideologien, die späte Geschichte des Osmanischen Reiches sowie Institutionen und Parteien in der Republik Türkei. Sodann kommen Essays über Biographien und Reisende sowie Aufsätze über Kultur und Erziehung. Die letzten drei Abschnitte bergen Ausführungen zur Sprache und Politik, zur jüdischen Gemeinschaft sowie drei Rezensionen. In jedem Beitrag ist die Quelle der Erstpublikation vermerkt. (more…)