[EARLY LITHOGRAPHS / THE FIRST PRINTED TURKISH BOOK ON ANTIDOTES / POISONS AND ANTIDOTES RECORDED DURING THE EXPEDITION OF YEMEN & HIJAZ IN 1849] پانزهیرنامه / Panzehirnâme. [i.e., The book of antidote potions]

MUSTAFA HAMI PASHA (1846-1878).

Matbaa-i Âmire, Istanbul, AH 1271 = [1855 CE].

Modern cloth binding with marbled boards. Foolscap 8vo (18 x 12 cm). In Ottoman script (Old Turkish with Arabic script). 83 p. Text traditionally framed, with a highly decorative calligraphic head title set within an ornate heart-shaped border, featuring traditional flowers and a pair of scepters with intertwined snakes. Orthography includes 'haraka' (Arabic diacritics). Each chapter head is adorned with intricate floral designs and borders. This early lithographed book, styled like a manuscript with its 'kataba' (imprint), shows slight staining on some pages and minor chipping at the upper corners of two pages. Overall, a very good, clean copy.

Lithographed edition. First and only edition of the first printed Turkish book on antidotes and poisons, written by Mirliva Mustafa Hâmi Pasha, one of the early Ottoman scientists, during the reign of Sultan Abdulmecid II. Hami Pasha served as a military physicist, botanist, and doctor in the Ottoman army during the first half of the 19th century, primarily in Hejaz and Yemen. He participated in an Ottoman military expedition to Yemen, which aimed to reassert Ottoman control over the region. On 23 March 1849, the expeditionary corps left Jeddah. As a trained medical professional practicing in Yemen, he also addressed various local health concerns and illnesses.

The presence of poisonous animals and plants in this book is largely derived from Hami Pasha's experiences in Yemen and Hejaz. His objective in writing this treatise, which begins with a prayer and praise for Sultan Abdulmecid II, was to correct the widespread belief in the "antidote stone" among the people and to emphasize that not all poisons can be neutralized in the same way, outlining the true antidotes. Following the introductory chapter (Muqaddima), the first chapter discusses poisoning caused by mines and their antidotes. Subsequent chapters cover poisons derived from plant and animal substances, poisons in flowing water and air, as well as the first interventions using plants with antidotal effects for various conditions such as drowning in water, convulsions, hanging, inhalation of floral scents, and freezing.

Hami Pasha, motivated by his experiences during the 1849 Yemen Expedition (where he encountered much of the flora and fauna mentioned in the book), compiled this information into a book. Encouraged by Sultan Abdülmecid II, who personally read the manuscript, and with the efforts of typographer Muhammed Recai, Hami Pasha had his work lithographed in 1855 at the Amire Printing House.

Özege 16131.; As of May 2025, only one copy in OCLC in the Aga Khan Library in London: 1124680097.