1785 — Very Good Turkish, Ottoman (1500-1928) Original dark brown handsome full leather bdg. with a traditional flap. Folio. (32 x 22 cm). In Ottoman script (Old Turkish with Arabic letters). [9], 288 leaves. The size of the text block in red borders: 25 x 14.5 cm. 33 lines on each page. Printed on paper with European watermarks. Handwritten title on bottom edge. Marginal cutting on the first page. Overall a very good copy. The 20th incunable of the Islamic world, printed by Ibrahim Müteferrika's legendary Basmahane. Süleymân Izzî succeeded Mehmed Subhî Efendi (ca. 1711 - 1769) in 1745 as an official court historian (vaka'nüvis) and held this office until 1753, and is known as one of the three chroniclers for coherent historiography, representing the events in the Ottoman history from 1730 to 1744 and is a particularly valuable source on the Habsburg-Ottoman War between 1736 and 1739, as proven by his chronicle titled "Tevârîh-i Sâmî ve Sâkir ve Subhî", published in 1784. During this time, he recorded the contemporary events taking place between 1744 and 1753 in the Ottoman Empire. This work was the last item in a series of chronicles published by the printing house founded by Müteferrika. Franz Babinger writes that some parts of the book have been translated into German. Hammer translated one of the parts in question into German. All published, Izzi has planned the third part of his work, but this third part was never published. Contents: "Ahd-i Hümâyûn".; "Zikr-i iâde-i fenn-i tiba'at" [i.e. On the book pressing and publishing with a preface by Ahmed Vâsif Efendi].; "Fihrist-i Târîh-i Izzî" [i.e. Content of Izzi's history].; Izzî tarihinin birinci bölümü [i.e. The first chapter].; Izzî tarihinin ikinci bölümü [The second chapter]. The workshop of Müteferrika began its historical mission in 1728. They published 17 works in 22 volumes. The printing house served as a means to the long-term goal of Müteferrika, his efforts to broaden the horizon and modernize the knowledge of Ottoman society and Islamic civilization. This is evidenced by the subjects of the books selected for publishing, the motivations put forth in the publisher's introductions, as well as by the documents illuminating the background of the publication of each book, also published in print. In 1742, with the publication of the Persian dictionary of Hasan Suûrî, a chapter of Ottoman book printing came to an end. With the death of Müteferrika, the printing of Turkish books was temporarily interrupted. The first generation of Ottoman-Turkish prints was soon followed by a new series, when in 1756 Ahmed and Ibrâhîm Efendi (the latter perhaps the founder's son, according to speculative sources) made an attempt to resurrect the legacy of Müteferrika through the possession of a decree obtained from the Sultan. However, this experiment did not prove to be lasting, as it did not last longer than the new edition of the first Turkish printed book, the Lugat-i Vankûlî. After this for several decades there was no continuation to the Turkish book printing established by Müteferrika, until in 1783 the workshop was put in operation again for the publication of six more works. The subjects of these late 18th century works were dominated by history and military technology, thus Müteferrika's strategy of book distribution made its way hand in hand with the efforts of modernization of the Ottoman state. The second edition of Lugat-i Vankûlî followed the principles of the first edition, and its introduction was composed on the model of the introductory pages of the two last books published under Müteferrika's supervision. The works published after 1783 display a noticeable development in typography not only as to its somewhat refined visual impression, but also in its structure. For example, the d+h and r+h ligatures, characteristic of the first generation of Müteferrika's printed books, are replaced by separate letters. This extremely rare presented book is from the seven publications of this late period of the
