[ILLUSTRATED KAISER'S VOYAGES TO THE OTTOMAN MIDDLE EAST] Hatirâ-i seyahât: Alman Imparatoru hasmetlü Vilhelm [Kaiser II. Wilhelm] ve Imparatoriçe Ogusta Viktorya [Augusta Victoria]...

[ON THE OCCASION OF THE SECOND VISIT TO ISTANBUL OF KAISER WILHELM II AND AUGUSTA VICTORIA, QUEEN OF PRUSSIA], Sabah Gazetesi / Mihran Matbaasi, Istanbul, [AH 1316] = 1899.

COMPLETE TITLE: [ILLUSTRATED KAISER'S VOYAGES TO THE OTTOMAN MIDDLE EAST] Hatirâ-i seyahât: Alman Imparatoru hasmetlü Vilhelm [Kaiser II. Wilhelm] ve Imparatoriçe Ogusta Viktorya [Augusta Victoria] hazretinin Dersaadet'i def'â-yi saniye olarak ziyaretleriyle Suriye seyahatlerine bir hatirâ-i nâçiz olmak üzere (Sabah) Gazetesi tarafindan Kariyan-i Osmaniyeye hediye edilmisdir.

Fine brown quarter leather bdg., brown boards with decorative embossing. Roy. 8vo. (24 x 17 cm). In Ottoman script (Old Turkish with Arabic script). 176 p., 33 unnumbered b/w plates of views of the Middle Eastern cities, Kaiser and queen's portraits, ills. of their maritime voyages, a general view of Beirut, a panorama of Jerusalem (in two pages), The Government House and Lake Tiberia in Beirut, a general view of Jaffa, churches and castles and Masjid-i Aksa of Jerusalem, Idlib, the interior of the Umayyad Mosque in Jerusalem, The Government House of Jaffa, Beirut - Damascus railways, street views and architectural buildings from Damascus, the market place of Jaffa, Bethlehem and the church, views of Trablus-Sam [i.e. Tripolis], ruins of Baalbek, and other numerous b/w photos, published for only this book. Slight stains on pages, a modern repair on a leaf with tape, otherwise a very good copy. Bound together with "Eski Sevda" which is a compilation of Turkish tales.

First and only edition of this richly illustrated scarce and uncommon book was printed for the German Emperor Wilhelm II and his wife Augusta Victoria, the commemoration of the construction of Alman Çesmesi [i.e. German Fountain] in Constantinople, and the first anniversary of the Wilhelm II's travel to the Ottoman Empire in 1898. The fountain's design was drawn by the architect Spitta and constructed by the architect Schoele with the German architect Carlitzik and Italian architect Joseph Anthony, working on the project. The fountain was built in Germany and then transported piece by piece to Istanbul, reassembled in its current site, and officially opened on January 27, 1901, on the birthday of German Emperor Wilhelm II.

Wilhelm II's voyage to the Levant in 1898 was a state visit that the German Emperor undertook in the Ottoman Empire between 25 October and 12 November 1898. The Kaiser started his journey to the Ottoman Eyalets with Istanbul on 16 October 1898; then he went by yacht to Haifa on 25 October. After visiting Jerusalem and Bethlehem, the Kaiser went back to Jaffa to embark on Beirut, where he took the train passing Aley and Zahlé to reach Damascus on 7 November. This book is richly illustrated including many views of the cities of this voyage's destinations like Jerusalem, Damascus, Beirut (Beirut), Jafa, Baalbek, etc. On 10 November, Wilhelm went to visit Baalbek before heading to Beirut to board his ship back home on 12 November. His visit spurred interest in the German Templer colonies in Palestine. One of the Kaiser's traveling companions, Colonel Joseph von Ellrichshausen, initiated the formation of a society for the advancement of the German settlements in Palestine, named the Gesellschaft Zur Förderung der Deutschen Ansiedlungen in Palästina, in Stuttgart. It enabled the settlers to acquire land for new settlements by offering them low-interest loans. A subsequent second wave of German settlers founded Wilhelma (named after the Kaiser, now called Bnei Atarot) in 1902 near Lod, Walhalla (1903) near the original Jaffa colony, followed by Bethlehem of Galilee (1906). The German Settlement Society successfully encouraged some of the Templars to return to the official, national Protestant Church. The non-Templar colony of Waldheim (now Alonei Abba) was subsequently founded next to Bethlehem of Galilee in 1907 by proselytized Templers now affiliated with the Old-Prussian State Church.

The visit resulted in the highest-profile political event in the life of Theodor Herzl, considered the founder of Zionism. Through the efforts of William Hechler, via Frederick I, Grand Duke of Baden, Herzl publicly met Wilhelm II three times during the voyage, once in Istanbul (on 15 October 1898) and twice in Palestine (29 October and 2 November). The meetings significantly advanced Herzl's and Zionism's legitimacy in Jewish and world opinion. (Wikipedia).

Only one copy in OCLC (Library of Congress. Karl Süssheim Collection, no. 1300): 900684728. Özege 7023.