[TURKISH LETTER REVOLUTION - NEW ALPHABET PRINTING IN THE EARLY REPUBLICAN TURKEY] Autograph letter / document signed 'Muhtar Halid' to the presidency of the Republican Party of Turkey.

[TURKISH LETTER REVOLUTION - NEW ALPHABET PRINTING IN THE EARLY REPUBLICAN TURKEY] Autograph letter / document signed 'Muhtar Halid' to the presidency of the Republican Party of Turkey.

  • $275.00
    Unit price per 
Tax included. Shipping calculated at checkout.


MUHTAR HALID, (Late period Ottoman / Turkish typographer, the elder brother of the famous typographer of Ahmed Ihsan Tokgöz, and the owner of 'Muhtar Halid Kitabhanesi', (19th-20th century). 

"Servet-i Fünûn - Ahmed Ihsan Matbaasi [i.e. Printing House]" Letterhad, Ist., 1928.

Original manuscript autograph letter/document signed by Muhtar Halid sent to the presidency of the Republican Party of Turkey in Ankara. 20,5x13,5 cm. In Ottoman script. Dated September, 23, [1]928. Six lines. Two punching holes out of text on the paper. The document says that 26.000 alphabets, 57.000 brochures and pamphlets, and 100.000 (?) are printed and will be sent to the 'Cumhuriyet Halk Firkasi' [i.e. Republican Party] (CHF - CHP) in Ankara city. This rare autograph documents how widespread and comprehensive work was done to switch from Arabic letters to Latin letters during the Letter Revolution in 1928. "Muhtar Halid Kitabhanesi [i.e. Printing House of Muhtar Halid] was located on Bâb-i Alî [i.e. The Sublime Port] main street, number 17; a place where is located old Izmir Terzihanesi [i.e. Old Smyrna Taylor Shop]. Muhtar Halid was the Late period Ottoman / Turkish typographer, the elder brother of the famous Turkish typographer and translator of Ahmed Ihsan Tokgöz, (1868-1942), and the owner of 'Muhtar Halid Kitabhanesi'. He worked together with his brother's printing and publishing house, especially when he was publishing 'Servet-i Fün'un' periodicals. Servet-i Fünûn [i.e. The Wealth of Knowledge] was a long-running and an avant-garde literary and sometimes political periodical, and, journal or magazine. It's published to support the Ittihat ve Terakki Cemiyeti [i.e. The Union and Progress Society, later, Party] initially by Ahmed Ihsan Tokgöz. (Source: Tanzimat'tan Cumhuriyet'e Tarihi Kentsel Çevrede Mekânlar Üzerinden Bir Semt Okumasi: Cagaloglu Semti Örnegi, by Melek Yalvaç (Ph.D. Thesis)).