[OTTOMAN AFRICA - LIBYA - SAHARA] Trablusgarb'tan Sahrâ-yi Kebîr'e dogru. Sahrâ teskilâti ve akvâmi hakkinda tedkikat: Sahrâ'nin teskilâti, iklimi, hayvanat ve nebatati... [i.e. Voyages from Tripoli to the Great Sahara]

[ABDULKADIR] CÂMÎ [BAYKURT sic. BAYKUT] (Fizan meb'usu [i.e. The deputy of Fezzan]), (1877-1949), Nisan Babikyan Matbaasi., Dersaadet - Istanbul, [AR 1326 = AH 1327] = 1910.

COMPLETE TITLE: [OTTOMAN AFRICA - LIBYA - SAHARA] Trablusgarb'tan Sahrâ-yi Kebîr'e dogru. Sahrâ teskilâti ve akvâmi hakkinda tedkikat: Sahrâ'nin teskilâti, iklimi, hayvanat ve nebatati, Sahrâ buldani ile beledî ve Bedevî akvâmin tarz-i hayat ve maisetleri, araklari hakkinda tedkikât ve tetebbuât. [i.e. Voyages from Tripoli to the Great Sahara].

Original illustrated wrappers. Cr. 8vo. (20 x 13 cm). In Ottoman script (Old Turkish with Arabic letters). 220, [2] p., 41 unnumbered plates (incl. 68 b/w photos), and 3 maps. Pages are partly untrimmed and uncut. Slight stains on cover and wear at spine. Overall a good copy. Roumi: 1326 = Hegira: 1327 = Gregorian: 1910.

First and only edition of this extremely rare book, including a historically significant eyewitness account of Cami Baykurt, who was an Ottoman officer during the Tripoli War (1911-1912), describing the flora, and the fauna in the Sahara desert and around Libya; the Bedouins and their customs with their social life, their culinary culture and their special drinks in his book during his travels to the south of Libya, to the Fezzan region, to participate in the Ottoman military operations at the fortress of Ghat, serving as a commander and governor. This book was prepared to present Tripoli, located in the Libyan lands today, Fezzan in the south, and the desert roads in between to the Ottoman court as well as the intelligentsia.

Baykurt was a Turkish politician and soldier who served as deputy of the first period of the Turkish Republican Parliament. He was the first minister of Turkish foreign affairs in the Republican period. He had participated as an officer in the Battle of Tripoli back in the day. The provinces of Tripoli and Fezzan were accepted as destinations of exile in the last period of the Ottoman Empire. The province of Tripoli, the last center of a few Ottoman sanjaks, had been the granary of ancient Rome in the past with its large villages.

Özege 21177.; Kursun p. 294.; Not in ATYB I (Askeri Tarih Yayinlari Bibliyografyasi).; OCLC 165148162 (with some misread and misspelled words; Kursun mentioned in his bibliography those misread words, especially 'Kazan mebusu -deputy of Kazan- instead of a deputy of Fizan about his title in some catalogs like OCLC. Kursun has a short but useful biography of Câmî).