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AL-JAWHARI (ABU NASR ISMA'IL) Kitab-i Iugat-i Vankulu [An Ottoman Turkish translation of the Arabic Sihah of Jawhari], 2 vol., Istanbul, Ibrahim Muteferrika, 1729
£6,000 - £9,000
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AL-JAWHARI (ABU NASR ISMA'IL)
Footnotes
THE FIRST BOOK PRINTED IN TURKEY, one of only 1,000 copies issued by the first Ottoman printing house..
An Arabic-Turkish Dictionary, sometimes known as "Jawhari's Dictionary", was originally written as an Arabic to Arabic dictionary by Al-Jawhari (d.1009-10) in the eleventh century. In the sixteenth century, Mehmed ibn Mustafa Vankuli (d.1592) adapted it into an Arabic-Turkish dictionary and it was then printed by Ibrahim Muteferrika (1674-1745) with the approval of Sultan Ahmed III in 1729. Muteferrika, a Hungarian Calvinist, was captured by the Ottomans as a teenager. He learned Turkish, converted to Islam, and completely assimilated into Ottoman society. In his introduction he argues for the importance of the dissemination of knowledge through printing. Muteferrika's volumes, printed in Istanbul and using custom-made fonts, are occasionally referred to as "Turkish incunabula".