1844 — Very Good Turkish, Ottoman (1500-1928) n original cloth bdg. Large roy. 8vo. (25 x 17 cm). In Ottoman script. 90 p. Hegira: 1260 = Gregorian: 144. First, only and extremely rare Ottoman Turkish translation and 'Bulaq Edition' of this account of Napoleon described as 'Extrait du Memorial de Sainte-Helene. The Bulaq or El-Amiriya Press is the first official and governmental printing press to be established in Egypt, and function according to industrial printing basis, causing not just a qualitative but also a quantitative and knowledgeable leap in science throughout the Arab region. The Bulaq Press was part of Mohamed Aly's inclusive development plans for the modernization of Egypt. The Khedive first initiated his plans by establishing a strong Egyptian army; one that is capable of strengthening his grip on the country. It thus became essential that this army be provided with the necessary instructive and educational books and material, by which to learn military plans and techniques, as well as the different types of artillery and laws that define a soldier's duties and rights. A pressing need eventually developed for establishing a governmental press; one that should provide such material. By 1815 CE., Mohamed Aly initiated the process of bringing the art of printing to Egypt by sending the first official delegation, headed by Nicole El Masabki, to Milan in Italy, to learn the principles of printing. The same delegation was later able to return and establish the first official press in Egypt. This rare and unusual book published and printed in Bulaq Press shortly after the foundation of the printing house. After his final defeat at Waterloo and his subsequent second exile, Napoleon Bonaparte spent 10 weeks on board the HMS Northumberland as it sailed him to the far-flung reaches of the South Atlantic. His destination was St. Helena, a small and windswept island under British control. Almost 2000 kilometers west of Africa, St. Helena measured only 122 square kilometers (47 square miles) - half the size of his former home-in-exile, Elba. His intended home, Longwood, was not finished by the time he arrived and so Bonaparte stayed with a British family - the Balcombes- at their residence The Briars. He made a great friend of the family's younger daughter Betsy and the pair got on famously. Napoleon was given very few privileges. Once he met a slave and desired to free him, the English government denied his request on the grounds that he was trying to align with the slaves and start an insurrection. Napoleon spent most of his days dictating his memoirs to his generals, reading plays, novels, and the latest books from Europe that his captors would allow him. He spent six years there, though there are really only anecdotes to describe his life at the time, which, for the most part, carry expressions of loneliness and boredom. Extremely rare. Only six paper copies found in OCLC: 777091409. Cairo FKT 185.; Özege 10976. First Edition.
