[RUSSIAN LANGUAGE SKILLS FOR THE OTTOMAN MILITARY ACADEMY] Uchitel' chteniia Russkago iazika = Rusça kiraat muallimi: Bi'rade seniyye-i hazret-i sehriyârî Mekteb-i Fünûn-i Harbiye-i mülûkânelerinde tedrîs edilmek üzere tab' ve temsîl kilinmisdir...

MEHMED SADIK BIN HASAN KESMIRÎ, (Turkish Soldier, Politician, Piyade Kolagasi; Piyade Miralayi), (1860-1940), Boyaciyan Agop Matbaasi / Matbaa-i Osmaniye, Konstantinopol' (Tsarigrad - Constantinople), [AH: 1305 / 1312 = AD: 1888-1895].

COMPLETE TITLE: [RUSSIAN LANGUAGE SKILLS FOR THE OTTOMAN MILITARY ACADEMY] Uchitel' chteniia Russkago iazika = Rusça kiraat muallimi: Bi'rade seniyye-i hazret-i sehriyârî Mekteb-i Fünûn-i Harbiye-i mülûkânelerinde tedrîs edilmek üzere tab' ve temsîl kilinmisdir. / Uchitel' chteniia Russkago iazika v' trekh' chastiakh' = Rusça muallimi. / Skol'niy drug: Kniga dlia chteniia v' piati chstiakh' = Mekteb arkadasi: Rusça kiraat kitabi. Bi'rade seniyye-i hazret-i sehriyârî Mekteb-i Fünûn-i Harbiye cenâb-i mülûkâne, umûm erkân-i harbiye siniflarile piyâde ve süvâri üçüncü ve ikinci seneleri sâkirdânina mahsûs olmak ve bes kisimdan ibâret bulunmak üzere isbu kitab mekteb-i mezkûrun 303 senesi ders programina tamamile mutâbik olarak cem' tertîb edilmistir

Contemporary fine 1/3 leather binding with five compartments on spine. Second one has 'Rusça' [i.e. Russian] gilt in Ottoman script. Other compartments have traditional gilts. Boards are embossed with traditional decorations. Boards slightly faded, some foxing on pages. Otherwise a very good copy. Cr. 8vo. (20 x 14,5 cm). In Ottoman script (Old Turkish with Arabic letters) and Russian. Three books bound together. First book is 'Rusça kiraat muallimi' [i.e. 'Teacher for Russian reading']. 10, 53, 2 p. Bilingual in Turkish with Arabic letters and Russian. Second book is 'Rusça muallimi' [i.e. 'Russian teacher']. Indicated on the frontispiece as 'first part'. 167, [4] p., two folded pages. Bilingual in Russian and Turkish with Arabic script. And the third book is 'Mekteb Arkadasi: Rusça Kiraat Kitabi' which is in Russian only except for the first four pages. 206 p. First two books printed in 1888 [AH 1305]; the last one printed in 1895.

First and only editions. Exceedingly rare togetherness of these early first three works in one volume on the Russian language for the cadets of the Ottoman Military Academy in the last period of the 19th century, including conversation guide, grammar, and reading passages.

19th century became one of the searches for solutions to fix the state's weaknesses for the Ottoman Empire and in that century, wars and diplomatic relations with Russia directed the Ottoman Empire to get to know Russian culture and land closely. As its first step, the Russian language began to be taught in military schools under the leadership of soldiers and civilian teachers. One of them was Mehmed Sadik. The author writes in his foreword of "Rusça kiraat muallimi", that there's no good textbook for teaching Russian, and also he has been giving Russian lessons at the Ottoman Military Academy for five years.

Özege 17153.; 17154.; 12797. Not in OCLC.