[COLUMBUS BECOMES POPULAR IN THE MIDDLE EAST] Tarih-i keshf ü feth-i Amerika = Histoire de la decouverte et de le conquête de l'Amerique. [i.e. History of the discovery and conquest of America]. Introduction by [Kemalpasazâde] Said [Bey], (1848-1921). 2 volumes set in one.

Constantinople (Istanbul): Impremiere Mahmoud Bey / A[rtin] Assadourian., [1310 AH], 1893. 1st Edition . Hardcover. Very Good. 8vo - over 7¾ - 9¾" tall. A fine half leather bdg. with marbled boards. Two volumes in one. Cr. 8vo. (20 x 14 cm). The text in Ottoman script (Old Turkish with Arabic letters) with bilingual titles in Ottoman Turkish and French on frontispieces and title pages. 2 volumes set: (248 p.; 270, [1] p., the first volume has Columbus' engraved portrait frontispiece, the second has Amerigo Vespucci's portrait). Hegira: 1310 = Gregorian: 1893. First and only edition of this very rare book, which is the first Turkish original work on the history of the discovery of America printed for the Quadricentennial of the Discovery. With this book, Christopher Columbus and Amerigo Vespucci quickly became popular among Ottoman readers (soon after Iranian readers with a translation of the first volume only), and immediately among other Middle Eastern readers, and thus the first comprehensive and original text describing Colombus and the discovery of America appeared in the Middle East and Islamic world. It's been published in Istanbul under the title "The history of the discovery and conquest of America". The first volume is on Christopher Columbus, and the second volume is on Amerigo Vespucci, their lives and travels. Andreas Kopassis Efendy (1856-1912) was one of the few Ottoman Greeks proficient in the Ottoman literary language. Cretan Kopassis is an intriguing figure who made a remarkable career serving the Ottoman state. At the time of the publication, he was a member of the State Council (Sura-yi Devlet). He displayed quite an extraordinary interest in scholarly research and he seems to have been one of the first to have studied Ottoman "tahrir defterleri" [i.e. Ottoman tax registers]. This could be called a translation in a sense. Kopassis makes no reference to preceding translations, nor does he refer to Robertson's history of America. His main source was a more recent equally "classic" work on Christopher Columbus, Washington Irving's "History of the life and voyages of Christopher Columbus" (first published in 1828). Another source referred to by Kopassis is J. H. Campe's "Entdeckung von Amerika" (first published in 1781). His educational background is evident particularly in the introductory chapter where ample references are made to Pliny, Ptolemy, and Plato's Timaios which contain allusions to Atlantis. In his takri (Introduction) to this work, Kemalpasazade Said Bey (1848-1921) praised the author for his elegant prose. Sultan Abdülhamid awarded the order of merit (liyâkât) in gold to the author. In the same year (1315=1895), an aide-de-camp at the Iranian Ministry of War, Muhibb-i 'Âli Khan, translated the first volume into Persian. At the turn of the century, Christopher Columbus had become a very popular figure for Ottoman readers of all ages...". (Source: STRAUS, JOHANN: Nineteenth-century Ottoman Americana.; "Frontiers of the Ottoman Imagination: Studies in Honour of Rhoads Murphey."). Only one copy in OCLC 777274675 (Leiden University Library). Not in American libraries.; Özege 19857.