The Ottoman five who brought the empire books

If five prominent Ottomans had not understood the importance of printing Ottoman Turkish books in 1727, many decades would have passed before the right circumstances happened again

?brahim Müteferrika.

Thanks to five remarkable men in the first quarter of the 18th century, the Ottoman Turks finally got their own printing press ? Sultan Ahmed III (better known for his love of entertainment), Grand Vizier Nev?ehirli Damad ?brahim Pa?a (who was keenly interested in developments in Europe), Yirmisekizzade Mehmet Sait Pa?a (who lived in Paris in 1721-1722), ?brahim Müteferrika (a man of Hungarian origin who became a leading figure in Ottoman society) and ?eyhülislam Yeni?ehirli Abdullah Efendi (who approved the petition for a printing press). If these gentlemen hadn?t been on the same page in 1727 ? pun intended ? the Ottomans might not have had their own imperial printing house for many years to come.

It wasn?t that the Ottomans didn?t know anything about printing presses. After the conquest of Istanbul in 1453, the Jews were granted the right to have a printing press that used Hebrew characters. The Armenians were given approval in 1567 and the Greeks in 1627. It wasn?t just opposition that stalled the introduction ? the Ottoman educational system was geared to teaching penmanship as an art. Those who were literate highly valued good calligraphy which took several years of rigorous training before one could receive a certificate of proficiency. Moreover artistic quality was particularly stressed when it came to printing the Quran and other religious books such as commentary.

Printing books in the Arabic language presents some serious problems because when letters are connected, they change form. And since Arabic calligraphy was...