Autograph letter signed 'Edhem' in French.

IBRAHIM EDHEM PASHA, (Ottoman statesman, who held the office of Grand Vizier in the beginning of Abdul Hamid II's reign between 5 February 1877 and 11 January 1878), (1818-1893).

ALS Manuscript in French., Dated Feb(?), 18, 1839

Original autograph manuscript letter signed (ALS) 'Ibrahim Edhem'. 18x12 cm. In French. 3 p. on bifolium. To an unnamed recipient, mentioning a Mme. M. Neville, her interest in Egypt, and acknowledging receipt of a parcel. 2 1/2 sides 8vo, no place or date but dated 1839 to the reverse; usual. Ibrahim Edhem Pasha, (1819-1893) was an Ottoman statesman, who held the office of Grand Vizier at the beginning of Abdul Hamid II's reign between 5 February 1877 and 11 January 1878. He resigned from that post after the Ottoman chances of winning the Russo-Turkish War (1877-1878) had decreased. He furthermore served in numerous administrative positions in the Ottoman Empire including minister of foreign affairs in 1856, then ambassador to Berlin in 1876, and to Vienna from 1879 to 1882. He also served as a military engineer and as Minister of Interior from 1883 to 1885. In 1876-1877, he represented the Ottoman Government at the Constantinople Conference. Ibrahim Edhem Pasha was the father of Osman Hamdi Bey, a well-known archaeologist, and painter, as well as the founder of the Istanbul Archaeology Museum and the Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University. Another son, Halil Edhem Eldem took up the archaeology museum after Osman Hamdi Bey's death and has been a deputy for ten years under the newly founded Turkish Republic. Yet another son, Ismail Galib Bey, is considered as the founder of numismatics as a scientific discipline in Turkey.