Constantinople

2011 — New New English Original bdg. Dust wrapper. 4to. (34 x 24 cm). Edition in Turkish of 'A garden for the sultan: Gardens and flowers in the Ottoman culture'. 368 p., color and b/w ills. Hasbahçe: Osmanli kültüründe bahçe ve çiçek. Contents: Ottoman and other gardens. The features of Ottoman gardens. Ottoman gardens and Europe. Flowers among the Ottomans. The concepts of paradise and garden among the Ottomans. Ottoman palace gardens. Imperial gardens in Istanbul other than palace agdrens. References to Istanbul gardens and flowers in contemporary memoirs. Treatises on gardening and flowers. "True lover who has exprienced this blossoming of eternal rose in himself understands that the gardens of this world are only a lovelyn pretext for the Beloved to veil and unveil Himself at the same time. The hidden treasure of his beauty needs the garden to become visible to those who are still bound to sensible and tangible beauty. The eye of love sees behind the roses and trees, in the shade of the slender cypress and in the modest genuflection of the little violet, in the limpid water of basins and in the gushing fountains faint remembrances of the garden of Paradise with its Tuba tree, kauthar and salsabil; a Paradise which is, in turn, only a sensual symbol of God's everlasting beauty". OTTOMANIA Ottoman court Palace Istanbul Constantinople Flower Garden Turkish and Islamic art.