Rare books from Khalkedon Rare Books, IOBA, ESA

Istanbul: Milli Nesriyat Yurdu, 1935. 1st Edition . Soft cover. Very Good. 8vo - over 7¾ - 9¾" tall. Paperback. Roy. 8vo. (24 x 17 cm). In French. 37, [1] p. Le couvent et l'eglise des Saints-Pierre et Paul a Galata. Avant-propos par le R. P. V. Laurent A. A. D'Allessio was born in the Ottoman Empire who belongs to a former Catholic family on the island of Syra in the Aegean Sea, Archipelago. He worked at the Ottoman Bank, had some mining privileges in the last years of the Ottoman state, and published many articles and books on the history and archeology of Istanbul and especially Galata and Pera. He immigrated to Athens in 1936 and died there.

Istanbul: Habora Kitabevi Yayinlari / Basaran Matbaasi, 1967. 1st Edition . Soft cover. Very Good. 8vo - over 7¾ - 9¾" tall. Original wrappers. Cr. 8vo. (20 x 14 cm). In Turkish. 185, [4] p. First Turkish edition of the "Chinese War of Independence" written by Mao Zedong in 1936 during the war with the Kuomintang and Japan. It was translated by Ahmet Angin (1919-1977) from the French text. This translation was published by Bülent Habora (1940-2014) (the owner of Habora Publishing House). Habora left his studies at Ankara University, Faculty of Law and worked as a journalist and publisher. He managed Habora Publishing House, which he founded (1966-95). OCLC 62124547.

Istanbul: Kenan Matbaasi, 1946. Soft cover. Very Good. 8vo - over 7¾ - 9¾" tall. Original wrappers. Cr. 8vo. (20 x 14 cm). In Turkish. 34, [1] p., b/w plates. First and only Turkish edition of "The Shakespeare myth and the Stratford hoax" by Walter Ellis. Five copies are located in OCLC (1275070658 and 315076635). Four copies in the UK, one in Turkish libraries. Not located in American libraries.

Istanbul: Türkiye Büyük Millet Meclisi Hükümeti Maarif Vekâleti Nesriyâti / Matbaa-yi Âmire., [AH 1339], 1923. 1st Edition . Soft cover. Very Good. 8vo - over 7¾ - 9¾" tall. Original wrappers. Cr. 8vo. (19,5 x 14 cm). In Ottoman script (Old Turkish with Arabic letters). 14 p. First and only Turkish edition of this important, rare, and the first work on eugenics in Turkey in book form, translated by Balaban from English, from a lecture Pearson gave at Oxford University, including the idea of the human race can be grown more perfectly in the future as well as the species of animals and plants. Balaban indicated in his preface of the work that Eugenism is discussed in the western world under the leadership of Sir Francis Galton (1822-1911), and it should be progressed in Turkey as well. Especially in this period when epidemics are common, the book emphasizes how important it is to combat these diseases. Mustafa Rahmi Balaban (1888-1953),… Read More

Kostantiniyye [Constantinople - Istanbul]: Ali Riza Efendi Matbaasi., [AH 1286], 1870. Hardcover. Very Good. 8vo - over 7¾ - 9¾" tall. Contemporary cloth bdg. Rebacked spine. Roy. 8vo. (23 x 14 cm). In Ottoman script (Old Turkish with Arabic letters). 143 p. Slight tear on two leaves, wear on extremities of original marbled boards, otherwise a good copy. Early printed edition of this exceedingly rare collection of early Ottoman erotic poems of homosexuality and bisexuality, of the 18th century including the multiple works of Enderunlu Fazil and Sünbülzâde Vehbi. This book includes five works originally: Defter-i ask [i.e. The book of love] (pp. 1-21); Hubannâme [i.e. The book of male lovers] (pp. 22-55); Zenannâme [i.e. The book of beautiful women] (as well as "Çenginâme" of Fazil Bey in Zenannâme, pp. 102-111); and Sevkengiz [i.e. Inspiring] (pp. 112-143). "Defter-i ask" [i.e. The book of love] by Fazil, in… Read More

Constantinople (Istanbul): Neologos Litografyasi - Votîra ve Sürekasi Matbaasi., [AH 1292], 1875. 1st Edition . Leather. Very Good. 8vo - over 7¾ - 9¾" tall. Contemporary 1/4 leather bdg. with marbled boards. Small 4to. (27 x 19 cm). 23 p. (11 p. in Ottoman script (Old Turkish with Arabic letters; 12 p. in French), with rare 4 folded maps. A very good copy. First and only edition of this extremely rare bilingual book in French and Ottoman Turkish, including the first records on the formation and characteristics of storms to explain how storms and hurricanes occurred, which route they followed, and how they were conveyed to the regions that need to be warned by telegraph, for the vessels sailing in the seas, by French expert Coumbary who was founded the Rasathâne-i Âmîre [i.e. Ottoman Imperial Observatory]. Both the original French and Turkish translations of the work were published together in one volume. The work also included four maps which were… Read More

Istanbul: Matbaa-i Âmire., [AH 1271], 1855. 1st Edition . Hardcover. Very Good. 12mo - over 6¾ - 7¾" tall. Modern cloth bdg. Marbled boards. Foolscap 8vo. (18 x 12 cm). In Ottoman script (Old Turkish with Arabic script). 83 p. Traditionally framed text. Very calligraphic head title in very decorative heart-shaped border and traditional flowers, a couple of scepters with two snakes. Orthography with 'haraka' [i.e. Arabic diacritics]. The heads of each chapter are surrounded by very decorative flowers and borders. An early printed lithographed book designed as a manuscript with its 'kataba' [i.e. imprint]. Slightly stained on pages, minor chipped on upper corners of two pages. Otherwise a very good and very clean copy. Lithographed edition. First and only edition of the first printed Turkish book on the antidotes and poisons. It's written by Mirliva Mustafa Hâmi Pasha, one of the early Ottoman physicists, during the reign of Sultan Abdulmecid II.… Read More

Istanbul: Sabah Gazetesi / Mihran Matbaasi., [AH 1316], 1899. 1st Edition . Hardcover. Very Good. 8vo - over 7¾ - 9¾" tall. Fine brown quarter leather bdg., brown boards with decorative embossing. Roy. 8vo. (24 x 17 cm). In Ottoman script (Old Turkish with Arabic script). 176 p., 33 unnumbered b/w plates of views of the Middle Eastern cities, Kaiser and queen's portraits, ills. of their maritime voyages, a general view of Beirut, a panorama of Jerusalem (in two pages), The Government House and Lake Tiberia in Beirut, a general view of Jaffa, churches and castles and Masjid-i Aksa of Jerusalem, Idlib, the interior of the Umayyad Mosque in Jerusalem, The Government House of Jaffa, Beirut - Damascus railways, street views and architectural buildings from Damascus, the market place of Jaffa, Bethlehem and the church, views of Trablus-Sam [i.e. Tripolis], ruins of Baalbek, and other numerous b/w photos, published for only this book. Slight stains on pages, a modern repair on a leaf… Read More

Aleppo: Wattar Freres., [ca. 1920's], 1920. 1st Edition . Soft cover. Very Good. Eight panels of panoramic photograph folded into original printed light brown card wrappers titled "Souvenir d'Alep (Syrie). / Panoramique d'Alep" and "Editeur Wattar Freres, Alep (Syrie)" on the cover. Open size: 9x112 cm. In French. Contemporarily repaired verso of hinges by tape, overall a fine copy. Scarce wide-angle black and white photo-lithographic panoramic view of one of the oldest and most important cities of the Islamic Middle East, Aleppo of Syria, taken at twilight time, in the 1920s, when the country was under the French Occupation between 1920-22. This attractive photograph was edited and also probably taken by the Wattar Brothers, who were the famous and prolific editors and photographers of Syria and Southeast Anatolia including Kilis, Aintab (today: Gaziantep), etc. The Wattar Freres' descendants were present in Syria until the early 2000s (Serifoglu). This panorama… Read More

Qirkuk: Al-Shirket al-Islamiyye., [c. 1956], 1956. 1st Edition . Soft cover. Very Good. 8vo - over 7¾ - 9¾" tall. Original wrappers. Cr. 8vo. (20 x 14 cm). In Arabic. 63, [1] p., 1 portrait of Atilhan. First edition of this Arabic edition of Turkish "Kendi vesikalarina go?re Masonluk nedir?" [i.e. What is Freemasonry according to their own documents?], written by Atilhan who was a Turkish career officer and antisemitic writer, who was one of the initiators of the 1934 Thrace pogroms. It was published in Iraq, probably Qirkuk (The phone number of the publishing house is written on the cover). During the Turkish War of Independence, Atilhan was appointed as the commander of the Zonguldak-Bartin and Havalisi Fronts. It prevented the spread of the French Army in this region. Upon the victory of the War of Independence, he left the army and went into writing. In his anti-semitic book "Suzy Liberman, Jewish Spy", in 1935 the Turkish Army gave the order to buy… Read More

Istanbul: N.p. [AH 1309], 1892. 1st Edition . Soft cover. Very Good. 8vo - over 7¾ - 9¾" tall. Lithographed edition. First and only edition of this extremely rare of this lithographed treatise of "anti-cigarette manifesto", claiming that smoking is "haram" and forbidden according to Islam in 23 articles, the harms of smoking in 43 articles, and the benefits of giving up every kind of tobaccos in 20 articles. After Immediately after the publication of the book, Emin Efendi was sentenced to exile for two years and the book was banned. According to some views, the author's exile was due to the force of the tobacco cartels in the Imperial Ottoman. Written in nashk calligraphic style with "hareke". "Tobacco, an important crop in Turkish agriculture, was introduced to the Ottoman Empire by European merchants in the late 16th century, probably from its Caribbean sources. Tobacco consumption became widespread in a short period of time, but there… Read More

Istanbul: T.C. Erkân-i Harbiye-i Umûmiye Riyaseti Bahriye Talim ve Terbiye Dairesi Nesriyati / Bahriye Matbaasi, 1928. 1st Edition . Soft cover. Fine. 8vo - over 7¾ - 9¾" tall. Original wrappers. Roy. 8vo. (23 x 16 cm). In Ottoman script (Old Turkish with Arabic letters). [iii], 182 p., richly illustrated. First and only edition of one of the earliest and extremely rare Ottoman Turkish book on electricity published after the proclamation of the Republic in Turkey. It's a complete guide to electricity including how to install power plants, generators, and their working principles, etc. One of the most important breakthroughs of the regime in the Republican period was the delivery of electricity to many cities and villages of Turkey after the proclamation of the Republic. The electricity question and energy policies were also reflected in the propaganda material of the Republican regime. After the Alphabet Revolution in 1928, after the very few electrical books… Read More

Istanbul (Constantinople): Tarih-i Osmânî Encümeni Mecmuasi / Ahmed Ihsan ve Sürekâsi Matbaacilik Osmanli Sirketi., [AH 1331], 1915. 1st Edition . Soft cover. Very Good. 4to - over 9¾ - 12" tall. Modern cloth bdg. Small 4to. (26 x 19 cm). In Ottoman script (Old Turkish with Arabic letters). 24 p. First edition of this epic and historically important account, describing the siege and fall of the Byzantine Empire and Constantinople by Ottoman Sultan Mehmet II in 1453. This is one of the finest literary examples of sixteenth-century Ottoman prose. "This description of the conquest of Istanbul in 1453 is mentioned only by Ismail Pasha in his "Hediyyetü'l Arifîn". The text, which was published as a supplement to TOEM (parts 20 and 21, Istanbul 1331) is said to be taken from a manuscript owned by Halis Efendi. The introduction to Ca'fer Çelebi's life was also written by Halis Efendi. The work is written in a very… Read More

Istanbul: Seyr-i Sefain Idaresi Külliyatindan / Bahriye Matbaasi., [AH 1341], 1925. 1st Edition . Hardcover. Very Good. 8vo - over 7¾ - 9¾" tall. Original red cloth, gilt lettering on front board. Fading and stains on the extremities of boards. Roy. 8vo. (24 x 16 cm). In Ottoman Turkish (Old Turkish with Arabic letters). [3], 52, [1] p., imprint page has "Seyr-i Sefâin Idaresi" [i.e. Turkish Maritime Administration] letterhead. Uncommonly scarce first and only edition of this Turkish nautical guide to vessels and sailors, containing the logarithm tables to calculate the loxodrome line used for correct bearing while sailing, according to the Mercator projection, published by the Turkish Maritime Administration two years after the proclamation of the new Republic. Not in Özege.; Not in OCLC.

Balkans: Fî 16 Ra [Rebiyülahir] sene AH 1130 = [19 March 1718], 1718. 1st Edition . No Binding. Very Good. 8vo - over 7¾ - 9¾" tall. Original manuscript on polished paper. Demy 8vo. (22 x 16 cm). In Ottoman script (Old Turkish with Arabic letters). [2] p. A rare early manuscript historical document and petition written to Sultan Ahmed III directly in jeli diwani script, "telhis" and "buyuruldu", including correspondences regarding the allowance to be given to four privates who were assigned to the supply ship on the Danube River under the command of Kapucubasi Mehmed Agha, in March 1718. A historically significant manuscript document written in the last year of the Austro-Turkish War (1716-1718) regarding the allowances of four privates subordinate to Mehmed Agha, who served in Ruse, Svishtov, Nikopol (Nicopolis) and on the banks of the Danube River, shows that the Turks retained control of the territory of the Danube River in the early 18th… Read More