[EARLY ILLUSTRATED OTTOMAN PROPAGANDA BOOKS / BALKANS] Kirmizi siyah kitab: 1328 Fecâyi’i [i.e., The red-black book: The tragedy of 1328 (1912)]

[EMRE], AHMED CEVAD [AHMET CEVAT] (1876-1961)

Matbaa-yi Hayriye ve Sürekâsi, Istanbul, AH 1329 = [1913].

In fine modern cloth bdg. with red & black marbled boards. Five raised bands to spine, gilt title to the second compartment. Original red front cover is saved inside. Roy. 8vo. (24 x 17 cm). In Ottoman script (Old Turkish with Arabic letters). 159, [1] p., profusely illustrated. A very good copy.

First and only edition of this scarce first Turkish propaganda book published during the Balkan Wars (1912-1913) by the Society for the Muslim Immigrants from Roumelia, prepared against the enemy states such as Bulgaria, Serbia, Greece, etc.

This early book was published after July 1913, Ahmed Cevad Emre returned to Istanbul from London where he went to seek support for the Ottoman Empire during the Balkan Wars, on receiving the news that Edirne was taken back. Publishing of this book aimed to influence public opinion to require support from the Ottoman public and to call on Ottomans to contribute to its activities such as donating money during the Balkan Wars (1912-1913).

The book is richly illustrated and earliest known book in Turkish for propaganda including 59 b/w reproduced illustrations compiled from rare English, French, and Russian sources in its period. It consists of nine chapters titled “Hayat kavgasi” [i.e., Fight for life], “Vatan ve tabaka-i münevvere” [i.e., The homeland and the class of intelligentsia], “Osmanli gencine” [i.e., To Ottoman youth], “Osmanli kadinina” [i.e., To Ottoman women], “Hilâl ve Salîb” [i.e., The Crescent and the Cross], “Hiristiyanlari kurtarmak davasi” [i.e., The question and the case of saving Christians], “Amâl-i Milliye ve Vataniye’de vahdet” [i.e., National collaboration and Unity for Homeland], “Balkan Mezâlimi” [i.e., The genocide of Balkans], “Vesâik kismi: Menâbi-i Ecnebiyye” [i.e., Chapter of the documents: Foreign sources].

ON THE SOCIETY FOR THE MUSLIM IMMIGRANTS FROM ROUMELIA: During the Balkan Wars (1912-1913), civil organizations tried to compile evidence of atrocities and brought these kinds of information and images to the attention of national and international public via their publications. The main civil society of the immigrants in the Ottoman Empire and people who were left in the lost territories was Rumeli Muhacirîn-i Islâmiyye Cemiyet-i Hayriyyesi [i.e., The Society for the Muslim Immigrants from Roumelia]. The society protested Bulgaria after the military mobilization started and the first news of atrocities began to be heard and published in the Ottoman press. In its press release, the organization condemned the "barbarity and savagery", of the Bulgarian “gangster government” whom they held responsible for the atrocities. They also underlined the fact that European humanity and civilization should be ashamed of such acts in the 20th century and referred to the "Bulgarian monsters".

Özege 10721., TBTK 9805., Yolcu 111-129 pp.