[THE CIRCASSIAN FEMALE SLAVES IN THE LITERATURE] سرگزشت / Sergüzest

SEZAI, SAMIPASAZÂDE (1859-1936).

Kitabhâne-i Sûdi, Mahmud Bey Matbaasi, Istanbul, AH 1340 = [CE 1924].

In burgundy contemporary cloth. Title gilt to spine. Cr. 8vo. (19 x 13 cm). In Ottoman script (Old Turkish with Arabic letters). 125 p. A very good copy.

Rare early edition of the first Turkish realist novel. The book tells the story of Dilber, the female protagonist created by Sezai. Dilber reflects the Circassian origins of the author's mother and her experiences, which parallel the character’s fate, being brought to Ottoman lands during the forced migration of Circassians deported from Russia in 1864 and subsequently sold into slavery. (Tugcu). This is the second and final Ottoman edition.

In a village in the Caucasus, a little girl named Dilber falls into the hands of slave traders. She is brought to Istanbul. The beautiful nine-year-old girl is sold to a civil servant named Mustafa Efendi. The lady of the house is harsh and ill-tempered. This tragic story, written by Sezai in 1889, is considered a pivotal work marking the transition from romanticism to realism in Turkish literature.

Provenance: Emin Lütfi Collection.

Özege 17787/2., OCLC 12488020.