Mejmaïlgharaib

This material is held atBritish Library Asia, Pacific and Africa Collections

  • Reference
    • GB 59 Or 8765
  • Dates of Creation
    • 18th century
  • Language of Material
    • French Turkish
  • Physical Description
    • 2 texts 147 ff Materials : Paper. Foliation : European, 147 ff (45 ff in Ottoman Turkish beginning on the right; 102 ff in French on the left). Dimensions : 212 mm x 153 mm. Script : Latin, Nesih. Binding : 19th-century binding with flap, marked 'Curzon Parham. 1847. Jan. 8'.

Scope and Content

This volume contains Mejmaïlgharaib ou Le Livre des Merveilles traduit par Pierre fornetti jeune de Langue à Constantinople, 1739. On f 2v, this anonymous collection of anecdotes is described in ''Avis du traducteur au lecteur'' as ''Ce livre n'est rien moins que ce que son titre vous annonce. C'est un ramas d'historiettes extravagantes inventées chez les Barbiers turcs; car je n'ai rien vu de plus visionaire que ces sortes de gens là''. [''This book is nothing more than what its title tells you. It is a collection of short extravagant stories invented by Turkish barbers; because I have seen nothing more visionary than these types of people''.]. The French translation of the stories ends on f 102v and is followed by the original Ottoman Turkish text (ff 1v-45r from the right-hand side of the volume). The text contains a single unvan. This manuscript is undated but probably belongs to the same period as the French version. The last folio has been added in another hand.

Access Information

Not Public Record(s)

Unrestricted

Acquisition Information

Bequeathed by Darea, Baroness Zouche on 13 October 1917.

Subjects