[NORTH AFRICA / THE FRENCH OCCUPATION / ALGERIA] Mir'atü'l-Cezayir. [i.e. The mirror of Algeria]. Translated by Ali Sevki

ALI RIZA PASHA, (?-1876)., N. p., Istanbul, [AH 1293] = 1876.

Original black cloth with title lettering gilt on the spine. Special block-printed endpapers adorned with patterns in a blue-white combination. Demy 8vo. (21 x 14 cm). In Ottoman script (Old Turkish with Arabic letters). [5], [7], 142 p. A fine copy. Hegira-Hijri: 1293 = Gregorian: 1876.

Extremely rare first edition of this unusual first-hand and eyewitness account by Ali Riza Pasha (?-1876), of historically important events between 1830-1903 in Algeria, soon after the French occupation, printed in Istanbul as translated by Ali Sevki, which is inspired by his father's book with the same title, published in 1833 by Imprimerie Goetschy publishing house in Paris. Ali Riza Pasha's father (Hamdan Efendi) was an Ottoman scholar who wrote his book in Arabic during the French occupation years, with contributions from Hassuna Dayi of Tripoli, who was the last Dey [i.e. a kind of administrator of Turkish origin] of the Deylik of Algiers [i.e. The Regency of Algiers was a state in North Africa lasting from 1516 to 1830 until it was occupied by the French]. Ali Riza Pasha also wrote this presented book, which is also in Arabic with the same name, by taking advantage of his father's work and other French history books as well. 

Ali Riza Pasha, a former governor of Bursa city (Hüdavendigâr), was the son of Hamdan Hodja (1773-1842), a wealthy man and one of the leading scholars and statesmen of Algeria during the French occupation.

Özege 13756. Kursun, p.172. Only two copies located in OCLC (949512347), none in the US libraries.