[EARLY EXAMPLE OF THE CONCRETE POETRY IN TURKEY] Misirkalyonigne. Cover design by Ferit Öngören

BERK, ILHAN (1918-2008).

Dost Yayinlari / Resimli Posta Matbaasi, Ankara, Ocak [January] 1962.

Original illustrated stapled stiff wrappers. Large 8vo. (19 x 17 cm). In Turkish. 27, [1] p. Ownership inscription on the blank preliminary leaf (see Provenance), publisher’s tool on the third blank page. Margins slightly darkened, with slight chipping to the wrapper edges; the centre leaf loosely inserted. Otherwise, a good copy.

The very rare first edition of one of the earliest Turkish poetic collections of visual and concrete poetry. Mısırkalyoniğne is one of the defining books of the Second New (İkinci Yeni) movement. Published as Berk's ninth collection of poetry, including his ten poems, it introduced one of the most radical linguistic experiments in modern Turkish literature, abandoning conventional syntax and narrative in favour of an autonomous poetic language in which words function as independent aesthetic entities. The introductory pages open with a quotation from the third-century Chinese philosopher and commentator Wang Bi (226-249) on the nature of images. The first edition was limited to 3,000 copies and appeared in a striking cover design by Ferit Öngören (1932-2010), one of the pioneers of modern Turkish graphic design.

Published during the formative years of the Second New (İkinci Yeni) movement, the collection exemplifies the movement's rejection of conventional poetic diction, linear narrative, and established syntax. While sharing the movement's emphasis on linguistic innovation and associative imagery, Berk carried these experiments further than most of his contemporaries, pushing the material and visual qualities of language to the forefront. The collection occupies a pivotal place in Berk's bibliography and in the development of experimental Turkish poetry during the 1960s.

The Second New (İkinci Yeni) emerged in the mid-1950s as a reaction against the simplicity, plain diction, and everyday themes of the Garip movement. It transformed modern Turkish poetry through its rejection of conventional syntax, linear narrative, and direct statement in favour of linguistic experimentation, complex imagery, and multiple layers of meaning. Together with Cemal Süreya, Edip Cansever, Turgut Uyar, Ece Ayhan, and Sezai Karakoç, Ilhan Berk, also an accomplished painter, became one of the movement's principal figures.

Provenance: From Turkish poet Ronnie Margulies (1955-2023) library, ownership inscription on the blank preliminary leaf as "Ronnie Margulies, Aralik [i.e., December] 1973".

Although it remains unclear which editions are represented in these collections, as of September 2026, OCLC records nine holdings in North American libraries, including Princeton, the University of Pennsylvania, HathiTrust, the University of Chicago, Indiana University, the University of California, Berkeley, and UCLA (including the systemwide Library Facility-North).