[CELESTIAL GLOBES / ASTRONOMY] تعلیم الكره / Ta’lîmü’l-küre. [i.e.,Use of the celestial globe]. Müderrisîn-i kirâmdan hâlâ... [i.e., The treatise Talîmü'l-Küre, which predates this edition, was authored by Hoca Abdurrahîm Efendizâde...

HOCA ABDURRAHÎM EFENDIZÂDE ESSEYÎD HOCA OSMAN SÂ’ÎB EFENDI (?-1864).

Tabhâne-yi Âmîre [i.e., Imperial Printing House], Constantinople, Cemâziye’l-Evvel 1266 [March/April 1850].

COMPLETE TITLE: تعلیم الكره / Ta’lîmü’l-küre. [i.e., Use of the celestial globe]. Müderrisîn-i kirâmdan hâlâ müneccim-i evvel ve Dârü’l-Muallimîn’de ulûm-i riyâziyye talîmine me’mûr Hoca Abdurrahîm Efendizâde es-Seyyid Osman Sâ’îb Efendi’nin bundan mukaddem tab’ olunan Talîmü’l-Küre nâm risâlesidir ki tab’ ol da vak’i çünd ad des hû mahalleri bu def’a tashîh olunarak tekrar tab’ temsîl olunmusdur. [i.e., The treatise Talîmü'l-Küre, which predates this edition, was authored by Hoca Abdurrahîm Efendizâde es-Seyyid Osman Sa'îb Efendi, a distinguished scholar and the first astrologer among esteemed lecturers. He was appointed to teach arithmetic at the Dârü'l-Muallimîn. In this edition, the previously mentioned things were revised and reprinted].

Contemporary stitched marbled wrappers. Foolscap 8vo (17.5 x 12 cm). In Ottoman script (Old Turkish with Arabic letters). 32 pp. Some wear to the spine and slight marginal stains on the title page and recto. Else, a very good and well-preserved copy. Artistic floral head decorations composed using the negative technique (çift tahrîr), creating a striking contrast against the paper ground. The text begins with the Basmala and includes reddâde on each double-page spread. A fine example of early letterpress printing.

Early edition of this rare treatise on the use of the celestial globe by Turkish chief astronomer Osman Sâ’îb Efendi. This is the second edition, one of three published during its time (1848, 1850, and 1859). Issued as a textbook for Darü’l-Muallimîn [i.e., The Teacher Training College for Boys], it appears to have been intended not as an introductory didactic work but rather as a reference for those already familiar with the subject, serving as a reminder of key points.

Celestial globes were used in Islamic astronomy, though they played a marginal role and were primarily valued as visual objects. By the mid-19th century, commercial terrestrial and celestial globes were being produced in Europe, mainly for educational institutions. Given this context, the celestial globes became the subject of a textbook for the first time in the Ottoman Empire. (Bir, Barutçu & Kaçar). The book consists of ten chapters, along with an introduction and a conclusion. The introduction covers the names of various circles and illustrations drawn on celestial globes, along with explanations of their significance. This initial chapter provides extensive details on the terminology of both celestial and terrestrial globes. The chapters are as follows:

Determining the Degree of the Sun (Derece-i Şems), Measuring the Altitude of the Sun (İrtifâ-i Şems) and Using the Globe, Measuring the Sun’s Declination (Şems Meyli) and Right Ascension (Mutâli’-i İstivâ’iyye), Determining the Latitude (‘Arz-i Belde) of a Place, Calculating Sunrise (Tulû’-i Şems) and Noon (Vakt-i Zuhr), Calculating the Sun’s Ortive Amplitude (Si’a-i Maşrik-i Şemsiyye), Calculating the Time (Sâ’at-i Vakt) from the Altitude of the Sun, Calculating the South Amplitude of a Specific Altitude (Semt), Calculating the Qibla or the Southern Amplitude of the Qibla (Semt-i Kıble), Making Various Calculations Relating to the Stars (Kevâkib) Using the Globe, The final chapter covers observing a lunar eclipse (Husûf-i Kamerî Rasad) and determining the longitude (tûl) of a given place.

Chief astronomer Osman Sâ’îb Efendi bin Hoca Abdürrahîm bin Yûsuf el-Muglavî el-İstanbûlî was educated in Istanbul and became a scholar with works in medicine, astronomy, and geography. His father, Hoca Abdurrahîm Efendi, was an instructor at the Fatih madrasas and the younger brother of the renowned Ottoman mathematician Müftîzâde Palabıyık Mehmed Efendi. Osman Sâ’îb Efendi held several judicial positions throughout his career, serving as the judge of Üsküdar in 1817, İzmir in 1851, Mecca in 1855, and Istanbul in 1858.

Osman Sâ’îb was one of the leading figures in modern scientific education, alongside chief instructor Ishak Hoca Efendi, Hüseyin Rifki Tamânî, Kethüdâzâde Mehmed Arif, and others. He trained numerous students in medicine, astronomy, and mathematics. Following the establishment of the Dârü’l-Fünûn-i Osmânî [i.e., Ottoman University] in 1845, he began teaching geography there.

While serving as Chief Astronomer, Osman Sa’îb Efendi translated Auguste François Chômel's treatise on cholera into Turkish. He also translated works on geography by Adrien Balbi (d. 1848), a French geographer of Italian descent, which were published in the first and second editions as Muhtasar Cografya: Avrupa (A Brief Geography: Europe, 1841), Cografya-yi Asya (The Geography of Asia, 1842), and Cografya-yi Kit’a-yi Afrika (The Geography of the African Continent). These translations were used as textbooks in his lessons. In 1855, he published an almanac entitled Takvîm-i Sâl 3 Receb 1271, which was printed in Istanbul. (Source: Use of Celestial Sphere by the Ottomans: Osman Saib Efendi’s Talimü’l-Küre, Istanbul, 2012, Bir, Barutçu & Kaçar).

Özege 19678., As of January 2025, we couldn’t trace any copies in OCLC.