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Important Cartography from the Niewodniczanski Collection
MAHMUD RAIF EFENDI (1760?-1807)
Cedid Atlas Tercümesi. Constantinople: Ottoman Military Engineering School Press, 1218 AH [April 1803-March 1804].
Details
MAHMUD RAIF EFENDI (1760?-1807)
Cedid Atlas Tercümesi. Constantinople: Ottoman Military Engineering School Press, 1218 AH [April 1803-March 1804].
The first European-style atlas printed in the Islamic world, one of only 50 copies printed. The maps are closely based on William Faden’s General Atlas, a copy of which was obtained by the author when he was in London serving as private secretary to the Ottoman Ambassador. Mahmud Raif Efendi wrote the text in French and it was translated into Ottoman Turkish. His work is one of the most spectacular artifacts of the Ottoman 'New Order' (Nizam-i Cedid), instituted by Sultan Selim III to incorporate European technology and administrative systems into the Ottoman Empire. The maps follow Faden closely but the place names are all transliterated into Arabic script, Christian symbols have been removed, and the cartouches are devoid of human figures, hence Neptune’s trident leaning against an ornamental border, while Neptune himself has been omitted.
The atlas was published in an edition of only 50 copies, of which it is thought a maximum of 20 complete copies survive. When the Library of Congress acquired their complete copy in 1998, it was the first to be located outside of Turkish libraries. Selim III’s efforts to Westernize the empire were not popular among the traditionalist Janissaries. Just a few years after this atlas was printed, Selim was deposed in a military coup and Mahmud Raif Efendi himself was killed. Copies of this atlas were very likely also lost then, amidst the general unrest, fires, and targeting of 'New Order' objects.
This copy is without the celestial chart (as often), and map of central Europe but does contain all the other terrestrial maps, including the 2 world maps and the folding maps of the continents. OCLC 54966656; Not in Philipps/Le Gear, Atabey, or Blackmer.
Folio (548 x 378mm). Text in Ottoman Turkish. Engraved pictorial title with the tughra of Sultan Selim III, letterpress leaf of contents and 79 pp. of text in Ottoman Turkish, and 23 (of 25) hand-coloured double-page engraved maps after William Faden, some folding (lacking the celestial chart and map of central Europe, some damp and waterstaining throughout, title repaired and strengthened in inner margin, large folding map of the world separating along join of the 2 sheets, some tears to maps including along folds, a few maps slightly cropped along edges into engraved area, some fraying at edges, some splitting in gutter). 20th-century dark green sheep-backed black cloth boards (binding becoming detached, spine rather rubbed, corners and edges bumped). Provenance: Ladislao Reti (bookplate).
Cedid Atlas Tercümesi. Constantinople: Ottoman Military Engineering School Press, 1218 AH [April 1803-March 1804].
The first European-style atlas printed in the Islamic world, one of only 50 copies printed. The maps are closely based on William Faden’s General Atlas, a copy of which was obtained by the author when he was in London serving as private secretary to the Ottoman Ambassador. Mahmud Raif Efendi wrote the text in French and it was translated into Ottoman Turkish. His work is one of the most spectacular artifacts of the Ottoman 'New Order' (Nizam-i Cedid), instituted by Sultan Selim III to incorporate European technology and administrative systems into the Ottoman Empire. The maps follow Faden closely but the place names are all transliterated into Arabic script, Christian symbols have been removed, and the cartouches are devoid of human figures, hence Neptune’s trident leaning against an ornamental border, while Neptune himself has been omitted.
The atlas was published in an edition of only 50 copies, of which it is thought a maximum of 20 complete copies survive. When the Library of Congress acquired their complete copy in 1998, it was the first to be located outside of Turkish libraries. Selim III’s efforts to Westernize the empire were not popular among the traditionalist Janissaries. Just a few years after this atlas was printed, Selim was deposed in a military coup and Mahmud Raif Efendi himself was killed. Copies of this atlas were very likely also lost then, amidst the general unrest, fires, and targeting of 'New Order' objects.
This copy is without the celestial chart (as often), and map of central Europe but does contain all the other terrestrial maps, including the 2 world maps and the folding maps of the continents. OCLC 54966656; Not in Philipps/Le Gear, Atabey, or Blackmer.
Folio (548 x 378mm). Text in Ottoman Turkish. Engraved pictorial title with the tughra of Sultan Selim III, letterpress leaf of contents and 79 pp. of text in Ottoman Turkish, and 23 (of 25) hand-coloured double-page engraved maps after William Faden, some folding (lacking the celestial chart and map of central Europe, some damp and waterstaining throughout, title repaired and strengthened in inner margin, large folding map of the world separating along join of the 2 sheets, some tears to maps including along folds, a few maps slightly cropped along edges into engraved area, some fraying at edges, some splitting in gutter). 20th-century dark green sheep-backed black cloth boards (binding becoming detached, spine rather rubbed, corners and edges bumped). Provenance: Ladislao Reti (bookplate).
Brought to you by
Eugenio Donadoni
Senior Specialist, Medieval & Renaissance Manuscripts