Muteferrika. - KATIB CELEBI (Mustafa ibn Abdullah / Hacci Ha - Lot 104

Muteferrika. - KATIB CELEBI (Mustafa ibn Abdullah / Hacci Halife, known as). Tuhfet ul-kibar fi esfar il-bihar [History of the Ottoman conquest of the Mediterranean]. Istanbul, Ibrahim Muteferrika, [1141 A.H.] [May 29, 1729]. Small folio, green half-chagrin, ornate spine, gilt edges (Binding circa 1860). First edition. (Atabey, no. 898; Babinger, GOW, p. 202; Toderini, III, pp. 27-36; Watson, no. 2). First illustrated book printed in Turkey, and second book printed by Ibrahim Muteferrika. The work, composed by Kâtib Çelebi (1609-1657), a Turkish polymath, is a history of the Ottoman sea wars and the conquest of the Mediterranean islands from the capture of Constantinople to the middle of the 17th century. It is a book of great importance for the history of the Ottoman navy. The edition is decorated with 5 folding or double-page plates: a map of the two hemispheres, a map of the Mediterranean and Black Sea (here colored), a map of Greece and part of Asia Minor, a map of the Adriatic Sea, and a double-page plate showing two navigational compasses (here partly colored). Originally from Hungary, Ibrahim Muteferrika (1674-1745) is considered to have introduced Arabic printing to Turkey. He founded the Ottoman Empire's first "official" printing house in Constantinople, and between 1729 and 1745 printed a total of just 17 books, mostly in history, geography and linguistics. The first book to come off the presses, in early 1729, was an Arabic dictionary. Note that the title box on the spine has been left blank. Staining on the first 5 leaves, foxing on a few leaves at the end. Reinforcement at middle fold of maps. Rubbing to binding.