This volume contains an Ottoman Turkish translation of İbn-i Haldun's (732-808 AH/1332-1406 CE) famous prolegomena (Mukaddime) to his universal history, entitled Kitabü'l-'İber. The translation was executed by Pirizade Mehmed Sahib Efendi (died 1162 AH/1749 CE), who was Şeyhülislam from Muharrem 1158 to Rebiülevvel 1159 AH (March 1745-April 1746 CE). Pirizade was able to translate approximately two-thirds of the Mukaddime (from the beginning until the end of the fifth chapter). In some places, he expanded on the original text with explanations and commentary. Pirizade's translation circulated widely in manuscript and later in print, thereby helping considerably in making İbn-i Haldun a familiar figure to Ottoman Turkish readers in the eighteenth and nineteenth century Ottoman Empire. Pirizade's translation was first lithographed in Bulaq in 1274 AH/1858 CE, with the translation of the final, sixth chapter completed by Mehmed Rifat Efendi. The sixth chapter was later retranslated by the politician, jurist, and historian Ahmed Cevdet Paşa (1238-1312 AH/1823-1895 CE). Pirizade's translation was published together with Cevdet Paşa's addition in 1277 AH/1860 CE. The present volume contains an illuminated headpiece with three roses and with gold and polychrome designs on f 2v. On f 490v, the panel below the colophon is illuminated with arabesque in gold and (oxidized) silver. There are small gold roundels between sentences and mauve, gold-sprinkled endpapers. There are textual addenda in the margins by the copyist, as well as sporadic annotations in pencil, for example on 259r. The scribe concludes the manuscript with a few lines of his own verse. The colophon is on f 490v, and states that the work was copied by Seyyid Yusuf Hafız in 1259 AH/1843-4 CE.
[Tercüme-yi Mukaddime-yi İbn-i Haldun].
This material is held atBritish Library Asia, Pacific and Africa Collections
- Reference
- GB 59 Or 14466
- Dates of Creation
- 1259
- Name of Creator
- Language of Material
- Turkish
- Physical Description
- 1 text 491 ff Material: Crisp, polished brown paper. Mauve endpapers, gold-sprinkled. Foliation: European, 491 ff. Dimensions: 232 x 140 mm; text area 175 x 78 mm. Pricking and Ruling: 27 lines; catchwords. Text frames in black, gold, and red. Rubrics and overlinings in red. Script: Good rıka. Binding: Original green morocco binding with flap, gilt tooled with central floral motif and chain borders.
Scope and Content
Access Information
Not Public Record(s)
Unrestricted
Bibliography
Şeyhülislam Pirizade Mehmed Sahib and Ahmed Cevdet Paşa, Tercüme-i Mukaddime-i Ibn Haldûn, 3 volumes, edited by Yavuz Yildirim, Sami Erdem et al. (Türkiye Yazma Eserler Kurumu Başkanlığı, 2015). Mehmed Sahib Pirizade, Tercüme-i Mukaddime-i İbn-i Haldun (Bulak: Bulak Matbaası, 1274 [1858]). Ahmed Cevdet Paşa, Mukaddime-i İbn Haldun'un Fasl-ı Sadisinin Tercümesidir (İstanbul, Takvimhane-i Âmire, 1277 [1860]).