[FINLAND DEVELOPMENT MODEL SUGGESTED BY ATATÜRK] Beyaz zambaklar memleketinde. Finlandiya'ya aid harsî tedkîk. Translated by Ali Haydar [Taner]

[PETROF] PETROV, GRIGORY [SPIRIDONOVICH] (1866-1925)

Kitabhane-i Hilmi, Maarifet Matbaasi, Istanbul, 1928.

Contemporary burgundy cloth. Gilt lettering on spine. Cr. 8vo. (20 x 14 cm). In Ottoman script (Old Turkish with Arabic letters). 143, [1] p. Foxing and age toning on pages. Otherwise, a good copy.

Rare first Ottoman Turkish edition of Petrov’s book titled “In the Land of White Lilies” originally written in 1923 in Serbia, focused on Finland’s developing model as a newly growing country in the early 20th century.

The book tells the story of Finland as a small country transforming into a politically, economically and culturally developed welfare society, based on a Fennoman philosopher and Finnish statesman Johan Vilhelm Snellman’s (1806-1881) ideas on the country.

This book translated into Ottoman Turkish from its Bulgarian edition published in 1925, took its place in bookstores in Istanbul, in 1928. In those years, the modernization process led by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk was proceeding in the country in a transition period. Atatürk ordered that all educational institutions in the country, especially military schools, this book is a must to be included in the curricula. Turkish officers have read this book, which is accepted as a guide to a “renewal of life” studies in their country, as a compulsory source of work for many years. The book reached at least sixteen editions in Turkey, each edition ranging from 12 thousand to 25 thousand. In the preface of one of the editions, it is stated this is the most-read book published in Turkey ever until then.

Ali Haydar [Taner] (1883-1956) was a Turkish educator, translator, and writer. He was born in Bulgaria. He was an educator who played an active role in Turkey, especially after the proclamation of the Republic. He contributed to the preparation of the Law on Unification of Education (Education Union) as a New Republican main state policy.

Özege 1934; As of May 2024, OCLC has located only two copies worldwide (65612088), not in any North American libraries.