[AVANT-GARDE / EARLY TURKISH FUTURIST BOOK DESIGN] Ansiklopedideki vahsi. Cover design by Ressam Sam, or Mimâr Sâmih. [i.e., The savage in the encyclopedia]

SÂDI, KERIM (Pen name of AHMET NEVZAT CERRAHOGLU) (1900-1977).

Nusret Kemal / Selâmet Matbaasi, Istanbul, 1929.

Original wrappers. Large 8vo. (20 x 16 cm). In Turkish. 5 p., ills. Fragile extremities with water stains and chippings, also staples corroded over time to the paper, making it brittle as well causing discolouration. Overall, a good copy.

Exceedingly rare first and only edition of this early striking pamphlet with a cover design which was highly influenced by Marinetti’s Futurism, including a short dramatic story of criticism of the capitalism and bourgeoisie by Kerim Sâdi. It contains a full-page futurist drawing (pp. 3) made by painter beside the cover.

The book was banned by the government of the period, which aimed at a privileged, classless, unified mass because the subject of the book was deemed too "class". Despite the ban, the book was praised by many socialist intellectuals of the period such as Nazim Hikmet Ran (1902-1963) and Nurullah Ataç (1898-1957). Thus, it was distributed clandestinely for a long time in early New Republican Turkey.

The artist of the cover design and drawing was “Ressam Sam/Mimâr Samih”. Although no biography can be found about the painter, he also designed the covers of "Aydinlik" magazine, according to Mete Tuncay's articles. The artist has been prosecuted many times because of his political art and satirical caricatures signed "SAM".

“The book focuses on a ferry worker and the daughter of a rich family, one of the passengers of that ferry. The girl shows the worker with her white gloves to her fragrant mother and says: Look, Mom, the savage in the encyclopedia!”.

Kerim Sadi, whose real name is Ahmet Nevzat Cerrahoglu, is an author known for his works on the socialist movement in Turkey and its history. After leaving his medical education, he went to Moscow to continue his education and joined the Communist Party of Türkiye (TKP). His first article was published in "Ahenk" magazine of Izmir. Later, he wrote for magazines such as "Aydinlik", "Resimli Ay", and "Yeni Adam". During the closure of the Communist Party, which was founded by Mustafa Suphi in 1920, by the state in 1925, using the Sheikh Said Rebellion in Eastern Anatolia as an excuse, he was arrested and sentenced to 4 years in prison for his alleged relationship with party member Sefik Hüsnü Deymer (1887-1959). He translated into Turkish some books of various Marxist-Leninist authors, also including the Communist Party Manifesto.

As of May 2024, we couldn’t find any copies located in OCLC and KVK.