The Practices of Editing in Ottoman Incunabula

İbrahim Müteferrika’a Contributions to the Publications in His Printing House

Abstract

The rise of Turkish printing is closely connected both to the Ottoman manuscript traditions and to the centuries-old practices of European printing. In this article, I outline the main features of the first Turkish incunabula in the light of Ibrahim Müteferrika’s editorial practices. In addition to his two own works (Usûl ül-hikem fî nizâm ül-ümem, Fuyûzât-ı miknatisîye), I examine the corrections and additions he made to several other books printed in his press. Using manuscripts associated with Ibrahim Müteferrika in the Süleymaniye Library and the Raşid Efendi Library in Kayseri, as well as a Latin account of the Müteferrika Press titled Origo et Principium Typographiae Ottomanicae, which offers additional information about the sources employed for particular prints, I trace the background of his own writings, translations and the editions he substantially revised. These manuscript translations and other excerpts provide a more complete picture of Ibrahim Müteferrika’s activities as an author in the Ottoman era, as well as of his education and scholarly interests.