Tuhfe-yi Vehbi - تخفۀ وهبی.

This volume contains a versified Persian-Ottoman Turkish vocabulary by Sünbülzade Vehbi Efendi, born Mehmet, son of Reşit Efendi (or possibly Raşit Efendi), an author from the Sünbülzade family of Maraş. After completing his studies in his hometown, Vehbi settled in İstanbul during the reign of Sultan Mustafa III and obtained employment as secretary of Yenişehirli Osman Efendi and the Reis ül-Küttab İsmail Bey. Shortly after the succession of Abdülhamit I (1187 AH/1773 CE), he was sent as ambassador to Persia to settle the conflict that had arisen between Kerim Han Zend and Ömer Paşa, governor of Baghdad. Having been accused by the latter of sacrificing Ottoman interests to Kerim Han, he was screened from the Sultan's displeasure by his powerful patrons and a poem entitled Tannane, presented through them to the sovereign, restored him to favour. He was subsequently appointed Kadı of Rhodes. Under Selim III, he collected his poems into a Divan which he presented to the Sultan. Vehbi died in İstanbul, at an age greater than 90 and after a long illness, on 14 Rebiülevvel 1224 AH (29 April 1809 CE). He left, besides the works mentioned above and the current text, a Lutfiye in imitation of the Hayriye of Nabi, and a poem entitled Şevk-i Engiz. . In a prologue written as a mesnevi, the author states that he visited Yerevan, Isfahan, Nehavend and, having stayed a long time in Shiraz (the language of which he designates as Pahlavi, while that of Isfahan he calls Dari), he associated with its poets and mastered their idioms. The present work was a fruit of that journey. He wrote it for the benefit of his son Lutfullah and dedicated it to a Vezir whose name he hinted in the text, as well as the man's two sons. The person insinuated is likely Hamit Halil, who was raised to the post of Grand Vezir in Ramazan 1196 AH (August-September 1782 CE) and was deposed in Cemaziülevvel 1199 AH (March-April 1785 CE). The dedication must have been penned shortly after his appointment, as the date of the composition is given as 1196 AH (1782-83 CE) at the end of the text. The vocabulary is evidently an imitation of Tuhfe-yi Şahidi, which the author does not mention. It contains 57 kıt'alar and a mesnevi. This manuscript was likely copied in the early 19th century.

Unrestricted

Acquired from the collection of Claudius Rich.

Rieu, Catalogue of the Turkish Manuscripts in the British Museum, pp. 144-45.

For a copy of the Lutfiye of Vehbi, see Or 7217 and Or 12197. For more information on Vehbi's works, see Cevdet IX, pp. 124-27; Ahmet Hayati, Tuhfe: Şerh-i Hayati (Bulak: Bulak Matbaası, 1254 [1838]), p. 60; and GOD IV, p. 554.

Sünbülzade Vehbi, Tuhfe-yi Vehbi (Istanbul: İbrahim Efendi Matbaası, 1303 [1886]). Sünbülzade Vehbi, Tuhfe-yi Vehbi (İstanbul : Daru't Tıbaatil Memure, [H.1213]). Sünbülzade Vehbi, Tuhfe-yi Vehbi (Bulak [Le Caire] : Darü't-tıbaat Mısrü'l-Kahire, 1245 [1830]). Hayati, Tuhfe-yi Şerh-i Hayati (Bulaq: Matbaa-yi Amire, 1254 [1839]).