[ONE OF THE EARLIEST COMPLETE TURKISH BOOK ON THE MODERN GYNAECOLOGY] Fenn-i vilâde. 2 volumes in one [i.e. The book of gynaecology: The pregnancy.; Obstetrics (or birth), maturation, final stage of pregnancy, and newborn].

[ONE OF THE EARLIEST COMPLETE TURKISH BOOK ON THE MODERN GYNAECOLOGY] Fenn-i vilâde. 2 volumes in one. Vol. 1: Haml. Vol. 2: Vilâdet, halâs, avâkib-i vilâdet, nevzâd. [i.e. The book of gynaecology: The pregnancy.; Obstetrics (or birth), maturation, the final stage of pregnancy, and newborn].

ÖMER BESIM AKALIN [PASHA], (Turkish physician, politician), (1862-1940)., Ahmet Ihsan Sürekâsi ve Matbaacilik Osmanli Sirketi, Istanbul, [AH 1338-1339] )1922-1923.

Fine contemporary half leather bdg. Five raised bands to spine, title, author's name, and volume numbers gilt on spine. Roy. 8vo. (24 x 17 cm). In Ottoman script (Old Turkish with Arabic letters). 2 volumes: (313 p.; 408 p.). Hegira: 1338-1339 = Gregorian: 1922-1923.

Rare first edition of this one of the earliest and richly illustrated original Turkish books on the modern gynaecology written by the founder of modern obstetrics and gynaecology in the Imperial Ottoman and modern Turkey, Besim Ömer [Akalin], (1862-1940). This rare book on gynaecology published after that Besim Ömer was sent to Paris France, where he worked as an assistant physician at the Hôpital de la Charite, and completed his medical specialization in 1891.

This volume consists of the first two books of a corpus including four books, titled "Haml" or "Hâmîl" [i.e. the pregnancy] for the first volume, and "Viâdet, halâs, avâkib-i vilâdet, nevzâd" [i.e. obstetrics (or birth), maturation, the final stage of pregnancy, and newborn]. It's a richly illustrated and comprehensive work in Ottoman language published in the years of the proclamation of the Republic in Turkey. It's the first original obstetrics corpus that was needed in the Republic of Turkey under the leadership of Atatürk, which supports the follow-up of medical developments and new scientific studies in the Western world.

Besim Ömer finished primary education in Pristina, then in the Ottoman Empire. He began his secondary education in Kosovo, completed Kuleli Military Medicine High School (Ottoman Turkish: Kuleli Askerî Tibbiye Idâdisi). He then studied at the Imperial Medicine College (Ottoman Turkish: Mekteb-i Tibbiye-i Sâhâne) graduating with distinction in 1885. He served briefly as a military physician at the Greek border, before he had to return to Istanbul after catching typhus. He took the post of an assistant lecturer in the birthing center of the Medicine College. Besim Ömer was then sent to Paris, France, where he worked as an assistant physician at the Hôpital de la Charité, and completed his medical specialization in 1891. He wrote two books about his experience in Paris. His book titled "Dogum Tarihi" (literally: "History of Birth") is considered as the first-ever modern work in Turkey about birth. After his return from Paris, he was promoted to the rank of a general. He tried several times to open up a birthing center, his application was however declined by Sultan Abdul Hamid (reigned 1876–1909). In 1892, he established, secretly from the Sultan's Court, the country's first birthing clinic in a small building next to the Medical College. It served for 17 years at the site before it was transferred to a larger building.

Besim Ömer countered the local mentality that prevented Muslim women from having jobs and touching men even for medical purposes. He applied Japanese methods in training nurses in Istanbul. In 1911, he personally trained daughters of well-known Muslim families in Istanbul in a six-month-long volunteer nursing course. For the first time, these nurses were able to take part in the medical care of wounded soldiers. He survived the Titanic sinking of 15 April 1912. During the years 1913-14, he organized nursery training courses for ordinary women. In these courses, he trained around 300 nurses, most of them serving during the Gallipoli Campaign (1915-16) and at other arenas of World War I. During this period, Besim Ömer acted as the director-general of Turkish Red Crescent. He was among the founders of the "Association of Fight against Tuberculosis" (Turkish: Verem Savas Dernegi) in 1918 and of the "Association of Child Welfare" (Turkish: Çocuklari Koruma Dernegi) in 1921. In 1919, he was elected rector of Darülfünun, the forerunner of Istanbul University. Besim Ömer led the way for Turkish women to become the first female physicians by enabling a group of girls to enroll at the Imperial Medical College in 1922. Six women graduated in 1928. Following the educational remained out of the staff. He was the author of more than forty professional works in medicine, mostly in midwifery, nursery, and child welfare.

Özege 5592.; TBTK 2727. Only two institutional copies in OCLC, not in American institutions or worldwide except for Turkish libraries: 1030085150, 850880503.