[MONTE CRISTO IN KARAMANLIDIKA] Monte Hristo [i.e. Monte Cristo] [and] Lord Hop: Meshur Monte Hristo hikâyesinin zeyli. [i.e. Der Herr der Welt = The lord of the world]

ALEXANDRE DUMAS PERE, (1802-1870).; ADOLF MÜTZEBURG, (1831-1882), Grafikos Kosmos Printing House / A. Th. Nikolaidis Printing House,  (1882-1885).

Original burgundy quarter calf, five raised bands to spine, ornaments in compartments. Demy 8vo. (22 x 15 cm). In Karamanlidika (Old Turkish with Greek alphabet). 1392 p., illustrated; [and] Lord Hop: Original black quarter calf, five raised bands to spine lettering title and volumes [as 1-6] in compartments. Demy 8vo. (22 x 15 cm). In Karamanlidika (Old Turkish with Greek alphabet). Six volumes in one (191, [1] p., 205, [3] p., 192, [1] p., 180 p., 185, [1] p.; 200, 6, [2] blank pages). Foxing on pages, slightly weak hinges, Lord Hop's boards are worn, slight chippings and weakness on extremities of pages. Overall good copies.

Extremely rare first Karamanlidika (Old Turkish with Greek letters) and second Turkish edition of the most celebrated novel "Monte Cristo" by Alexandre Dumas père, who, with 43 translated novels, was the second-most translated author in the Ottoman Empire; with "Lord Hop", introduced as the sequel to Monte Cristo in Karamanlidika, is even wrongly attributed to Dumas père himself, and then also to the French author Jules Lermina, who wrote two sequels to the Count of Monte Cristo: "Le Fils de Monte-Cristo" (1881) and "Le Trésor de Monte-Cristo" (1885). However, the actual origin of Lord Hop is Adolf Mützelburg (1831-82)'s Der Herr der Welt (1856). The Karamanlidika edition might be a translation of the first Greek translation of "Lord Hop" published in 1871-74.

The translator is not indicated. This rare and very early translation of Monte Cristo is deeply indebted to Kasap, who was a Greek - Turkish intellectual, who translated the Ottoman Turkish edition of Monte Cristo in 1872. The Turkish translator of Monte Cristo is typically deemed to be the famous Ottoman journalist, writer, and translator Teodoris Kasapis (known as Teodor Kasap), (1835-1897). Monte Cristo was initially serialized in Kasap’s satirical newspaper, Diyojen, on November 11, 1871. Panosian (the publisher of the first Ottoman Turkish edition of Monte Cristo) published the sixth volume of the Turkish text that was based on Kasap's translation which was serialized in Diyojen.

"Monte Hristo" also has features that provide insight into conventional practices in Karamanlidika publishing. These include the copyright notice and the dedication page, typical features in publishing in Turkish with Arabic letters, and the subscriber list at the back, an interesting feature of Karamanlidika book publishing for understanding the mechanisms of book circulation and production in the Turcophone Orthodox community. The copyright notice, invoking copyright laws on the first page, warns that: “Copies without the signatures of the publishers will be treated legally as fakes” (Nasirlerinin imzasi ile mümzî olmayan nüshalara nizamen sahte nazari ile bakilacaktir). This notice probably relates to the Ottoman state’s Statute of Copyright (1857) and the Statute of Copyright and Translation (1870). (Sismanoglu). The copy we present is also signed.

Lord Hop Meshur Monte Hristo Hikâyesinin Zeyli (1884), introduced as the sequel to Monte-Cristo in Karamanlidika, is even wrongly attributed to Dumas père himself. The translator is not mentioned, but I. M. Pontidis and P. S. Shanidis are described as its sahibi (“owners”) on the front cover. Lord Hop's Karamanlidika edition printed between 1884-1885 has six volumes.

Balta: Karamanlidika (1584-1900), Add., 66 (Balta indicates that "Monte Hristo" is 713 p. in three volumes.; Salaville & Dalleggio 212.; Not in Özege enlarged data.; Not in OCLC.