1875 — Very Good French Contemporary 1/4 leather bdg. with marbled boards. Small 4to. (27 x 19 cm). 23 p. (11 p. in Ottoman script (Old Turkish with Arabic letters; 12 p. in French), with rare 4 folded maps. A very good copy. First and only edition of this extremely rare bilingual book in French and Ottoman Turkish, including the first records on the formation and characteristics of storms to explain how storms and hurricanes occurred, which route they followed, and how they were conveyed to the regions that need to be warned by telegraph, for the vessels sailing in the seas, by French expert Coumbary who was founded the Rasathâne-i Âmîre [i.e. Ottoman Imperial Observatory]. Both the original French and Turkish translations of the work were published together in one volume. The work also included four maps which were drawn for this work only. The first map shows the movement of a storm that occurred on March 8, 1865, the second one shows the occurrence between the Tropic Cancer and Capricorn whirlwinds, storms in the Atlas and Indian oceans, the movements in the Bay of Bengal, the storms in different directions in the China Sea, the Gulfstream, Grönland, and Azores. The second observatory in the Ottoman era was established for meteorology. Before this center was established, beginning from the Reformation (1839), many meteorological observatories were built by foreigners in various cities such as Istanbul, Smyrna, Trebizond, Tekirdag, and Merzifon both as private and public establishments. The very first known temperature readings are the meteorological observations made by the Priest Dalmas at the St. Benôit monastery between 1839-1847. Later William Lane, an Englishman who came to Istanbul during the Crimean War, made observations at the British Cemetery at Haydarpasa. W. Noe, director of the Mekteb-i Fünûn-u Sahane made observations at the house in Kalyoncukulluk where he lived until the Beyoglu Fire in 1848; and finally, it is known that French engineer Ritter, who was invited by the government for waterworks in Kuruçesme (1856-1860) also conducted meteorological observations. Observations on precipitation and humidity conducted between 1875-1892 by an amateur observer on the Thomson Farm in Erenköy are invaluable on the subject of Istanbul's climate. These observations have been published in Budapest in 1928. Excellent observations on heat, pressure, and humidity, made in the summer residence of the Russian ambassador on Büyükada have also been published, in Annales St. Petersburg. In 1858, the French government established the first observatory communicating data over the telegraph, and in 1863, by compiling meteorological data in France, the French National Meteorological Network started operations. In 1868, upon the recommendation of the French government, the Rasathane-i Âmire was founded to convey meteorological forecasts to certain centers by telegraph. Instruments were purchased from leading European factories, and operations started on top of a hill 74 meters high on Pera. The first director was Mr. Aristide Coumbray, who came to Istanbul to renovate the telegraph network. (Instruments commissioned from France were set up at Mr. Coumbary's home, which stood at the garden of the Swedish Embassy. The observatory was later moved after its offices were prepared.) Coumbary represented Turkey in the first international meteorology congress, convened in Wien five years later in 1873. Rasathane-i Âmire worked by the same system as the National Meteorology Center in France. In the observation books of 1868 (August-November), names of affiliated stations are given to us Soulina, Köstence (Constantia), Varna, Burgaz, Valona, Elbasan, Durazzo, and Beirut. Later, stations in Izmir, Diyarbakir, Baghdad, and Fao were also added. The observatory founded by Aristide Coumbary in 1868 in Istanbul, operated until the end of the First World War. Özege 5735.; TBTK 7688, 10862.; Not in OCLC.
