One of the earliest travel books of Turkish literature

Seydi Ali Reis. Mirat ül-memalik. Asar-i eslafdan.

Dersaadet (Istanbul), Ikdam Matbaasi, [1895 CE] = 1313 H.

8vo. 99, (1) pp. Red half morocco with blindstamped cloth boards and giltstamped spine title in Ottoman Turkish.

 1,500.00

First and only edition in the Ottoman world. Sidi Ali Reis was an Ottoman admiral sent by Suleiman the Magnificent to counter Portuguese piracy and attacks on Muslim pilgrim ships in the Indian Ocean, Arabian Sea, Red Sea and Arabian Gulf. He was shipwrecked in India and travelled to the Muslim states of South Asia, Afghanistan, central Asia, Iran, and the Middle East before returning to the Ottoman Empire. His travels are recounted in his present "Mirat ül-Memalik" ("The Mirror of Countries"), first published in 1557, one of the earliest travel books of Turkish literature and written in the now extinct Chagatai language. Rare: OCLC lists 3 copies only internationally (Leiden, Bamberg, Munich).

References

OCLC 632504491, 65818716.