İbrâhîm Müteferrika was the founder of the first Ottoman Turkish printing house in Turkey. Printing shops publishing non-Turkish editions had worked in the Ottoman Empire before him, and beyond the boundaries of the empire there were many examples of Arabic printed works. However, the Ottoman government repeatedly issued regulations prohibiting the printed reproduction of Ottoman Turkish texts, while it permitted to non-Muslim minorities living in the empire to publish books in their respective languages in this form.

The Sephardi Jews wandering into the Ottoman Empire established their first press in 1493, the Armenians in 1567 and the Greeks in 1627. By the early 18th century these minorities had dozens of printing offices in the empire, mainly in Istanbul, Salonica and Izmir.

Several theories have been proposed to explain why just Turkish printing came so late. One of the interrelated reasons is of religious and ideological in nature. In the Arab-Islamic civilization the role of writing is inseparable from its primary role as a carrier of divine revelation. Thus the “breaking up” of its cursive nature, inevitable during typesetting, could be considered as an insult against the holy Arabic script. This is why the Islamic world was initially more favorable to the reproduction by simple copying offered by the process of litography.

Signature of Abdulcelil Levni (died 1732), the outstanding miniature painter of the Tulip Period

The belated permission of Turkish book printing had economic reasons as well. In fact, this technique was a formidable competitor in the long term for the clerks and book copiers working in a large number in the Ottoman capital.

The conservatism of the religious elite, also reflected in the question of book printing, could be well rooted in the realization of the fact that this technology of the “infidel” West allows the fast, cheap and uncontrolled mass distribution of contents which are potentially conflicting with Islam and which indirectly threaten their own dominant position as well.

Ahmed III (1673-1736), the sultan of the Tulip Period. Miniature by Abdulcelil Levni, Topkapı Sarayı Müzesi, Istanbul (Inv. A 3109, Fol 22v)

The take-up of Turkish printing had to expect the favorable political atmosphere of the Tulip Period (1703-1730) and the appearance of a professional printer with a sense of vocation. The emergence of Ibrahim Müteferrika in this situation can be regarded as a lucky coincidence. European intellectuals of a humanist education with experience in printing on the one hand, and committed Muslim scholars on the other hand were no rarity in the period, but the coexistence of these two criteria in one person was it all the more. And without this coincidence it is difficult to imagine that Turkish book printing could have put roots in this period and with such objective.

The expertise of which Müteferrika made so good use in Istanbul links him with several threads to the Transylvanian environment of his less known youth. His openness to natural sciences and printing as well as his theological erudition show the impact of the Unitarian education and Protestant spirituality in Kolozsvár even in lack of any other evidence.

The establishment of the printing house was supported, apart from the patronage of the Grand Vizier, also by the dedicated assistance of the Ottoman court’s first ambassador in Paris, Yirmisekiz Mehmed Çelebi (died in 1732) who was committed to Western-style reforms. A number of early clichés and printed maps shows that the official founding of the Turkish printing shop was preceded by several years of experimenting, in part to make popular and more acceptable the technique of mass printing. 1

Fountain of Ahmed III, a characteristic work of the Tulip Period (1728)

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 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.

The Oriental Collection of the Library of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences preserves 13 out of the 17 publications from the first period of the printing house, when it worked under the supervision of Müteferrika. These prints came in possession of the Library in the early 20th century not as a uniform collection, but thanks to several donors. To the digital illustration of the complete series we also used the copies in the precious Collection of Old Prints of the Hungarian National Széchényi Library. 2

 

	[1.] Mustafa Mehmed el-Vânî (megh. 1592): Lugat-i Vankûli, 1141, receb/February 1729 size: 2 vols / 666 and 755 pages; printed surface: 145×230 mm; page: 220×260 mm; lines: 33-34; copies: 500. This work is the Turkish version by Mustafa Mehmed el-Vânî (died 1592) of the medieval Arab dictionary made by Ismācīl ibn Ḥammād al-Ğawharī (died ca. 1003) and known as Mucğam al-Ṣiḥāḥ. It was published in two volumes, the first of which includes the Sultan’s decree permitting the working of the press. The decree is followed by the fetwa (legislative resolution) by Grand Mufti cAbdullâh, Müteferrika’ treatise promoting book publishing (Vesîlet al-tıbâca), and the supportive declarations (takrîz)of several authorities. After Müteferrika’s death in 1757, as an overture of an attempt to restart the press, a second edition of the two-volume work was published. The National Széchényi Library preserves the above described first edition [OSZK shelfmark: H 3252], and the Oriental Collection of the LHAS the second edition of 1756 [MTAK shelfmark: 743.394]. This latter is in the bequest of Ármin Vámbéry. The introductory appendices of the first edition are from the copy of the Széchényi Library.
	[2.] Mustafa ibn cAbdallâh Haci Halîfe (Kâtib Çelebi, 1609-1657): Tuhfet ül-kibâr fî esfâr ül-bihâr, 1141 gurre-i zîlkâde /May 1729 size: 75, [2] fols; printed surface: 125×195 mm; page: 170×250 mm; lines: 25; copies: 1000. The legendary 17th-century Ottoman Turkish scholar Kâtib Çelebi started to write this historical work a propos of the Cretan war of 1645, and completed it as a unique summary of the history of Turkish maritime operations. The first part reports on the success of the Ottoman fleet before 1453, while the second reviews the history of maritime wars and the condition and organizational structure of the fleet from the conquest of Istanbul to 1653. The description is complemented by several maps as well as by a list of the admirals (kapudân paşa). The origin of the engraved maps included in the printed version is unclear. Müteferrika may have considered it suitable to publish both for its historical value of and its popularity. The introductory pages of the printed version include the publisher’s preface and four recommendations. The copy of the Oriental Collection [MTAK shelfmark: 768.409] contains a possessor’s note by one of the earliest (if not the first) owner, an officer called Mustafa, from January 1737 (15 Ramazan 1149 A.H.).
	[3.] Jan Tadeusz Krusiński: Târîh-i seyyâh der beyân-i zuhûr-i Ağvâniyân ve sebeb-i indihâm-i binâ-i Devlet-i Şâhân-i Safeviyân, 1142 gurre-i safer/August 1729 size: [7], 97 fols; printed surface: 100×165 mm; page: 150×230 mm; lines: 21-22; copies: 1200. A Turkish translation of the history of Iran written in Latin by the Jesuit missionary Jan Tadeusz Krusiński (1675-1751). The work, whose title can be translated as A voyager’s description on the apparition of the Afghans and on the reasons of the Safavid Empire being undermined, focuses on the Afghan invasion of 1722 which led to the fall of the Safavid dynasty, but also offers an overview on the historical processes of early 18th-century Safavid Iran. The publication of this work was made actual not only the vicinity of Iran to the Ottoman Empire, but also by the historical turn reorganizing the relations of power in the region and triggering the intervention of the Ottomans as well. This may have been the reason that among the first Turkish incunabula this was the work published in the highest number of copies. This publication also offers an early example of copyright disputes, as Krusiński considered the Turkish translation as his own work, while Müteferrika, who does not mentions his name in the printed version, suggests himself to be the translator The Oriental Collection preserves an incomplete copy, with some missing introductory pages [MTAK shelfmark: 771.143].
	[4.] Târîh al-Hind al-Garbî al-musemmâ be-Hadîs-i Nev, 1142 evâsıt-i ramazân/April 1730 size: [3], 91 fols; printed surface: 100×160 mm; page: 150×200 mm; lines: 20-23; copies: 500. Müteferrika tried to rediscover the New World for the Turkish public with this historical and natural historical description of the American continent with the publication of this work, abounding in engraved illustrations. The author of the work which served as a basis to the printed version was Mehmed bin Hasan al-Sucûdî (died 1591), but the authorship of Seydî cAlî Re’îs (1498-1562) has been proposed as well. The earliest copy of the work was donated to Sultan Murâd III (1574-1595) in 1583, almost a century after the discovery of the new continent. The volume, which can be divided into two major sections, offers a more detailed and ampler historical (1492-1552) and geographical description of the continent than the books published in the 16th and 17th century. The 13 smaller illustrations show not only human figures, animals and plants, but also fabulous creatures. The printed version complements with modern astronomical charts and maps the text which has been preserved in its original form. The engraving illustrating the seven zones was also included in the printed version of Cihânnümâ (see item 11). Two copies of the work are preserved in the Oriental Collection: [MTAK shelfmark: 756.152] and [MTAK shelfmark: 768.410]. The latter also includes some possessor’s notes, the earliest being of April 1743. Not every copy included the three supplemental fold-out maps, so for example the first of the above two copies have them (after fols 4 and 8), while the second not.
	[5.] Târîh-i Tîmur Gurkân li-Nazmîzâde Efendi, 1142 gurre-i zîlkâde/May 1730 size: [5], 129 fols; printed surface: 100×160 mm; page: 140×200 mm; lines: 20-22; copies: 500. Muḥammad Aḥmad ibn cArabšah’s (1392-1450) cAğā’ib al-maqdūr fī nawā’ib Tīmūr on the deeds of Tamerlane (Timur Lenk), completed in 1435, was translated into Ottoman Turkish by Nazmîzâde Hüseyin Murtezâ. Its only known copy in Hungary is preserved by the Oriental Collection [MTAK shelfmark: 768.411].
	[6.] Târîh al-Mısr al-cedîd, Târîh al-Mısr al-kadîm, 1142 gurre-i zîlhicce/June 1730 size: [4], 65 fols; printed surface: 100×160 mm; page: 150×220 mm; lines: 21-22; copies: 500. This volume on the history of Egypt includes two, originally separate works. The first part, by Ahmed ibn Hemdem Süheylî, resumes the history from the beginnings of the Ottoman occupation to 1629, while the second treats it from the beginnings of Egypt to the Ottoman conquest. The copy in the Oriental Collection [MTAK shelfmark: 700.981] has three possessor’s notes, the earliest of which was written in 1790.
	[7.] Nazmîzâde Hüseyin Murezâ Efendi: Gülşen-i Hulefâ, 1143 gurre-i safer/August 1730 size: [3], 91 fols; printed surface: 100×160 mm; page: 150×200 mm; lines: 20-23; copies: 500. A chronicle of the great dynasties of Islam, which offers an overview of the Muslim empires ruling the Middle East from the Abbasids to the Ottoman house, the reign of Sultan Ahmed III (1703-1730). The Oriental Collection has one copy of the work [MTAK shelfmark: 766.670].
	[8.] Jean-Baptiste Holderman (1694-1730): Grammaire Turque, April 1730 size: [3], 91 pages; printed surface: 100×160 mm; page: 150×200 mm; lines: 20-23; copies: 1000. Müteferrika’s only Western style publication, printed in Latin letters was this Turkish grammar, intended for Europeans, mainly for the future interpreters at the French embassy in Istanbul. It was perhaps because of the European author and public that this work does not figure in the list of the hitherto published books included in Târîh-i Nacîmâ (cf. item 13). The author is not mentioned by name, but he is obviously the German Jesuit missionary Jean-Baptiste Holderman, who died just a few weeks before the publication of his work. As much as it can be appreciated, this eighth publication of Müteferrika met an important demand among the French diplomatic corps and officers in Istanbul. We know from the correspondence of French ambassador Marquis de Villeneuve that it was Müteferrika to offer the printing of the grammar to the author. Instead of financial compensation, he only asked for the preparation of a Latin printing set fitting in size to the Arabic letters used in his press. In terms of the agreement previously signed with the French embassy, 200 copies were purchased by Marquis de Villeneuve for the courses of future interpreters in Paris and Istanbul at a price of 500 kuruş per copy. This was Müteferrika’s second most popular publication: of the 1000 copies only 84 were left in his bequest. The Oriental Collection preserves an incomplete copy of the book [MTAK shelfmark: 758.313].
	[9.] İbrâhîm Müteferrika: Usûl ül-hikem fî nizâm ül-ümem, 1144 evâsıt-i şacbân/1732. február size: 48 fols; printed surface: 80×145 mm; page: 130×190 mm; lines: 19; copies: 500. The most significant work by Müteferrika is a political and state theoretical treatise composed in order to improve the Ottoman government. The volume appeared in 1732, about one and half year after the uprising of Patrona Halîl which had overthrown the system of Sultan Ahmed III and Grand Vizier Dâmâd İbrâhîm. The writing, recalling the characteristics of Ottoman siyâsetnâme, calls the attention of the Ottoman leaders to the results of the state and military development and to the reasons of strategic superiority of the rival European powers, while strongly condemning the severa centuries long disinterest of the Ottomanps to the external world. An important feature of the work is to break with the hitherto prevailing nostalgic attitude to bygone golden ages. Although observes the stylistic conventions in as much he speaks contemptuously about the Christian nations, but in the content it already turns away from the indifference referring to the superiority of Islam. It announces in a list organized by items the reasons of the state’s weakness and the conditions of rise. In harmony with the main aspects of contemporary Ottoman reforms, the works mainly focuses on the necessity of the reorganization of the army. It also offers a broader historical background by describing after the Greek philosophers the various types of state (6v-7v), or by treating on the origins and reasons of success of the foundations of European culture, the Roman Empire (19v-20v). The concept nizâm-i cedîd (new order), which would be used for the newly organized military formations of Sultan Selîm III (1789-1807), appear here for the first time referring to the modernized European army (17v-18r). Although the purpose and genre of this work cannot be compared to the Risâle-i İslâmîye, in the evaluation of contemporary events we can observe a change in the author’s attitude. The utopistic optimism of Risâle-i İslâmîye may have had some rational basis, if one takes into account the Karlovci Treaty (1699) which was a rather positive correction in contrast to the previous series of Turkish failures in the Balkans, the European “internal wars” of the first decade of the 18th century, and the experiences of the reform and peace years of the Tulip Period. However, the Usûl ül-hikem… was already inspired by the atmosphere after the Požarevac Treaty (1718) which was a further stroke on Turkish hopes, and later by the upheaval overthrowing the regime supporting Müteferrika and the terror of Patrona Halîl in Istanbul. In this book he objectively and critically presents to the reader the recipe of recovering from the crisis, and the final triumph of the Ottoman house does not appear as the unconditional prediction of a prophecy, but as a possible result of the learning and reforms which had been postponed for centuries. The Oriental Collection preserves three copies of the work, one of which is from the bequest of Ármin Vámbéry. [MTAK shelfmark: 768.439; 768.412; 770.153.]
	[10.] İbrâhîm Müteferrika: Fuyûzât-ı miknatisîye, 1144 gurre-i ramazân/February 1732 size: 23 fols; printed surface: 80×145 mm; page: 130×190 mm; lines: 19; copies: 500. The authorship of Müteferrika in this compilation on magnetic effects can be supported with a good reason. The smallest book published in his press is a selection of extracts and chapters from various Latin works. It was probably the importance of magnetism in navigation and thus indirectly in the modernization of the fleet that called Müteferrika’s attention to the topic. The Oriental Collection has no copy of this work. One copy of it is preserved in the National Széchényi Library [OSZK shelfmark: H 3253].
	[11.] Mustafa ibn cAbdallâh Haci Halîfe (Kâtib Çelebi, 1609-1657): Cihânnümâ, 1144 muharrem/July 1732 size: 698 oldal, 40 unnumbered appendices; printed surface: 125×240 mm; page: 190×300 mm; lines: 31; copies: 500. The Cihânnümâ (“Book of the World”) was the most state of art summary of the Ottoman geographical knowledge of the age. The reason was that the author heavily relied, for the very first time, on European sources, such as Mercator’s famous Atlas Minor. The first part of the work is dedicated to overall geography and hydrography, and the second to the political geography, road network and hydrography of the continents, including America and Australia. The printed edition was in fact an extended version of the work, containing several additions – including the appendix of Müteferrika (pp. 422-698) – which doubled its original size. The geographical work by Kâtib Çelebi was ready for print already in 1730, but its publication – for unclear reasons, but probably also due to the priorities of the press changed by the new political conditions – was late, and it was preceded by Müteferrika’s two own works as well as by Holdermann 's grammar. According to its preface, it was Grand Mufti Dâmâdzâde Mevlânâ Şeyh Ahmed who suggested the publication of the work to Müteferrika, but by taking into account the period of the Grand Mufti’s office (February 1732 – October 1733), this may have not inspired, only reinforced the earlier dedication of the printer. It is also possible that Müteferrika had feared an eventual disapproval of the religious scholars because of the publisher’s appendix on the Copernican heliocentric world. A fragment of the work, devoid of all illustrations and maps, can be found in the Oriental Collection [MTAK shelfmark: 770.154], while a full copy in good conditions in the National Széchényi Library [OSZK shelfmark: H 3142].
	[12.] Mustafa ibn cAbdallâh Haci Halîfe (Kâtib Çelebi, 1609-1657): Takvîm ül-tevârîh, 1146 muharrem/June 1733 size: [10], 247 pages; printed surface: 100×205 mm; page: 170×270 mm; lines: 27; copies: 500. This chronological history of mankind spreads from the beginnings to 1648, but this work by Kâtib Çelebi was complemented by two more chronologies, one compiled by himself and one by Şeyh Mehmed Efendi, which extended it to 1733. According to the preface, the publication of this work was suggested by the Grand Mufti. The Oriental Collection has no copy of this work. One copy can be found in the National Széchényi Library [OSZK shelfmark: H 3151].
	[13.] Mustafa Nacîmâ (1655-1716): Târîh-i Nacîmâ, 1147 evâsıt-i muharrem/1734. október size: 2 vols / [24], 701 and [6], 711 pages; printed surface: 125×250 mm; page: 195×310 mm; lines: 33; copies: 500. Mustafa Nacîmâ is considered as the first official historian (vakcanüvis) of the Sultan’s court. His historical work, whose original title was Ravzat ül-Hüseyn fî hulâsat-i ahbâr ül-hâfıkeyn, described the history of the Ottoman Empire from 1574 until 1655, and was regarded as the most reliable Turkish chronicle of the period. The second volume of the printed edition was complemented by an appendix of 29 pages compiled by Müteferrika, in which he prolonged the chronicle by five more years, until 1660. This work, with its ideas proposing modernization, was especially fitting to the publisher’s strategy of Müteferrika. On the basis of the list composed by the defters registering the bequest of the printer, this two-volume work was especially popular in comparison to the other prints: almost four fifths of the published copies had been sold. Two complete works [MTAK shelfmark: 766.671, 768.404]; and a second volume of the chronicle [MTAK shelfmark: 770.320] can be found in the Oriental Collection.
	[14-15.] Mehmed Râşid (megh. 1735): Târîh-i Râşid, 1153 evâsıt-i muharrem/February 1741 size: 3 vols / [14], 277; [9], 194 pages; [2], 114 pages; printed surface: 130×250 mm; page: 195×310 mm; lines: 33; copies: 500. One of the main aims of Müteferrika as a publisher was to present the events of recent Ottoman history to his contemporaries. This is why he published, as a continuation of Nacîmâ’s chronicle, those by Mehmed Râşid and İsmâcîl cÂsim Çelebizâde (1685-1760), which are the chronological complementations of the former work. The independent chronicle of Çelebizâde was bound together with the third volume of Râşid’s work. In his introduction to Râşid’s history Müteferrika refers to both works, so in spite of the autonomous page numbering of the volumes, the colligate can be considered as one coherent publication. The book already begins with an European-style frontispiece, and at the end of the third volume it offers a detailed description on the functioning of the press (fols 199r-120r.). The Oriental Collection preserves two copies of the three volumes of the complete work [MTAK shelfmark: 766.669, 768.408].
	[16.] Ömer Bosnavî: Ahvâl-i gazevât der diyâr-i Bosna, 1154 gurre-i muharrem/March 1741 size: 62 fols; printed surface: 80×145 mm; page: 150×200 mm; lines: 21; copies: 500. This book, to all indication the most popular among Müteferrika’s publications, informs the reader about the positive developments on the Balkan frontiers. The Hapsburg-Ottoman war of 1736-39 ended with the Belgrade Treaty, which was advantageous to the Ottomans. Two copies of the work can be found in the Oriental Collection: [MTAK shelfmark: 766.513, 766.515]
	[17.] Hasan Şucûrî (megh. 1694): Lisân ül-cAcem, 1155 gurre-i şacbân/October 1742 size: 2 vols / [2], 454 and [2], 451 pages; printed surface: 130×250 mm; page: 195×310 mm; lines: 33; copies: 500. The printer who set himself the aim to enlighten and cultivate the society of his period started and ended his mission with the publication of two dictionaries. After the Arabic lexicon which was useful, moreover indispensable to the cultivation of the Ottoman Turkish language, he decided to publish a dictionary of Persian language which played an equally important role in the contemporary Ottoman culture. The Oriental Collection has a complete copy [MTAK shelfmark: 766.668] as well as an incomplete first volume of another copy [MTAK shelfmark: 766.667].

Map of Iran, published by Müteferrika before his first printed books
İbrâhîm Müteferrika, Kostantinîye, Dâr ül-Tibâ^cat ül-Ma^cmûre, H1124 = 1729
OSzK Cartographic Dept., shelfmark: TR 7656