[FIRST PRIVATE ADVERTISING YEARBOOK] Salik veren Muhibbân = Annuaire salik virene Mouhibban

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HACIBEYZÂDE AHMED MUHTAR [YEGTAS], (1871-1955), [Dersaadet Chamber of Commerce], Istanbul (Constantinople), [AH 1338] = 1921.

Original wrappers. Roy. 8vo. (24 x 17 cm). In Ottoman script (Old Turkish with Arabic letters), with bilingual titles in Ottoman script and French. On the front cover, short descriptions of the annual are in English, German, Armenian, Arabic, and Greek. 8, 16, 158 p., richly illustrated with woodcut reproduced with cliche. Slightly foxed on covers and pages, overall a good copy.

The extremely rare first edition of this richly illustrated and attractive first Middle Eastern private advertising yearbook printed in 1921, during the occupation of Istanbul, and published by the Ottoman Chamber of Commerce in Istanbul, giving an invaluable insight into the 1920s colorful advertising world and trade history of the Middle East.

It's the first yearbook of the private advertisements of Muslim and non-Muslim artisans and merchants and their factories and establishments all over the world with their contact information including names, addresses, telephone numbers with announcements.

This special annual including information in alphabetical order contains details of thousands of merchants, craftsmen, institutions, artists and artisans, restaurants, etc. from Istanbul's Jewish, Armenian, Greek, Turkish, and other nationalities affiliated with the last period of Imperial Ottoman. Some of the traders and institutions have posted advertisements with pictures.

The book starts with praise to Sultan Vahdettin. It is a compact source that contains the names of districts, neighborhoods, streets, apartments, and inns of 1920s Istanbul in alphabetical and sometimes mixed form. Within these pages, it is possible to see the commercial and social picture of Istanbul at the turn of the century.

ABOUT THE PUBLISHING HOUSE: The Chamber of Commerce had the typical qualities of Ottoman initiatives and experiences in modernization. The strong centralist tendencies that gained momentum in the nineteenth century during the Tanzîmât era are immediately noticeable in the bylaws of the chamber; the general feeling was that the government wanted to assume a position from which it could supervise and control the chamber. In support of the idea of establishing a chamber that would boost commercial and industrial growth like its European precedents, the Council of Ministers made a unanimous decision on Jan. 18, 1880, and forwarded it to the palace the next day for approval. Upon the endorsement of this decision by the sultan on the following day, "the Dersaadet (Istanbul) Chamber of Commerce" was established on paper. Under the guidance and supervision of the state, the main duty of the Chamber of Commerce was to research and find out aspects that were beneficial to trade and industry, to determine methods conducive to economic growth and obstacles that would hinder this growth, as well as reporting to the government the necessary measures that needed to be taken to this end.

The trade-in Istanbul was dominated by Armenian, Greek, and Jewish non-Muslim minorities in the 1920s, and was also at the center of the trade network of the Middle East. This was due to the fact that Istanbul was a consumer capital at the crossroads of international trade routes, with a high population density and more military-administrative personnel than in other cities.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Hacibeyzâde Ahmed Muhtar, one of the interesting figures in Turkish press history, published a newspaper called "Feryad". He is one of the Bektashi fathers. He was the author of several books on advertising, press history, cookery, exhibitions, etc.

Özege 17381.; Five institutional holdings according to the OCLC (57236280, 1030931054, 960969603): Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, LOC Karl Süssheim Collection no. 876, Orient-Institut Istanbul & Bogaziçi University Library; no copy in American libraries.