The Architecture of Bibliophilia : Eighteenth-Century Ottoman Libraries

Sezer, Yavuz

Edinburgh University Press（2026/07発売）

• 製本 Hardcover:ハードカバー版／ページ数 376 p.
• 言語 ENG
• 商品コード 9781399553858

Full Description

Libraries were a new building type in Ottoman architecture at the beginning of the eighteenth century. However, they quickly gained a considerable place among the endowments of Ottoman elite. This book explores the architectural, social and cultural dynamics that shaped the Ottoman library movement in Istanbul during the eighteenth century. It shows how the plans, decorative elements, book collections, staff and patrons of these libraries embodied the remarkable transformations of Ottoman society - notably the swelling of bureaucratic ranks, rising demand for historical and literary works, and a culture of celebrating novelty.

The book uses public libraries as a lens to examine these transformations, demonstrating how libraries both reflected and shaped the aesthetic, intellectual and cultural pursuits of the Ottoman reading public. Offering the first comprehensive history of the Ottoman library movement, it reveals the dynamism of Ottoman architecture in this post-classical period.

Contents

List of Figures
Editors' Acknowledgements
Authors' Acknowledgements
Note on Transliteration
Prologue by Kristel Smentek

Introduction

1. The Emergence of the Library as a Building Type Where 'Knowledge as
Capital Found Currency'

2. Libraries in Mansions and Palaces: Disengagement from Treasuries

3. Pilgrimage to the Library: The Bayt al-Maʿmûr/Kaaba Analogy in Ottoman Libraries

Excursus: Repositories of Polymath Erudition

4. Architectural Quests during the Height of the Age of Libraries

5. Perceptivity of Mind, Illumination of Eyes and Other Rewards of Libraries

Conclusion

Epilogue by Çiğdem Kafescioğlu
Appendix: Map of Libraries Built in Istanbul between the 1670s and 1850
Bibliography
Index