Formation and Dispersion of a Personal Library in the 18th Century: The Case of Mehmed Ismet Efendi’s Library
İsa UğurluThis article presents the personal library of Mehmed Ismet Efendi (d. 1747), an understudied Ottoman intellectual from the eighteenth century. Mehmed Ismet Efendi was a proficient madrasa professor in Islamic sciences, a well-trained poet who was capable of composing Turkish, Arabic, and Persian poetry, an astronomer who engaged in issues related to astronomy and prepared annual calendars for statesmen, a Ṣūfī master who had authorization in at least five Ṣūfī orders, and one of the leading calligraphers of the period. The present article examines the strategies this polymath adopted during his library formation. It is argued that thanks to the wealth he possessed, he expanded the manuscript collection inherited from his father until his death. He paid special attention to collecting books related to the branches of science that interested him. As a calligrapher, he copied books and pamphlets to add them to his library and also attempted to embezzle others’ books. The last section of this paper focuses on the aftermath of the library. It reveals that after Mehmed Ismet’s death, his manuscript collection was quickly scattered, and his books were acquired either by his friends or by book collectors of the period.
18. Yüzyılda Şahsi Bir Kütüphanenin İnşası ve Dağılışı: Mehmed İsmet Efendi Kütüphanesi Örneği
İsa UğurluBu makale, 18. yüzyılın önemli entelektüellerinden biri olduğu anlaşılan fakat bugüne kadar hakkında yeterince çalışma yapılmayan Mehmed İsmet Efendi’nin (ö. 1747) şahsi kütüphanesi hakkındadır. Mehmed İsmet Efendi, İslami ilimlerde yetkin bir müderris, Türkçe, Arapça ve Farsça şiirler kaleme alabilecek kadar iyi yetişmiş bir şair, astronomi meseleleri üzerine kalem oynatan ve devlet adamları için yıllık takvimler hazırlayan bir müneccim, en az beş tarikattan şeyhlik hilafeti alan bir mutasavvıf ve devrin önemli hattatlarından biriydi. Makale, “hezarfen” olarak nitelenebilecek Mehmed İsmet Efendi’nin kütüphanesini kurarken benimsediği stratejileri incelemiştir. Onun babasından kalan bir koleksiyonu, sahip olduğu servet sayesinde ölünceye kadar büyüttüğü, bunu yaparken ilgi duyduğu ilim dallarına müteallik eserler toplamaya özen gösterdiği, kendi kütüphanesine koymak amacıyla kitap ve risaleler istinsah ettiği ve başkalarının kitaplarını zimmetine geçirmeye teşebbüs ettiği makalenin tezlerindendir. Makalenin son bölümü ise kütüphanenin akıbetine odaklanmaktadır. Mehmed İsmet Efendi’nin ölümünden sonra kütüphanesinin hızla dağıldığı ve kitaplarının arkadaşları ve devrin kitap koleksiyonerleri tarafından satın alındığı bu bağlamda ortaya çıkarılmaktadır.
Mehmed Ismet Efendi (d. 1747), a prominent intellectual in the first half of the 18th century, was a distinguished professor in Islamic sciences, a poet and scholar who authored works in Turkish, Arabic, and Persian, an astronomer who conducted studies in astronomy, a well-known calligrapher of his time, and a Ṣūfī master who had authority in five different Ṣūfī orders. In addition to these qualities, he deserves attention for the extensive library he has succeeded in establishing in his household. Focusing on the surviving manuscripts of Mehmed Ismet and his previously neglected probate inventory, this article examines the formation process of the library he managed to establish, the strategies he adopted during this process, and the fate of the library following his death. By focusing on his library, which contained abundant works on Islamic sciences, poetry, and astronomy, this study contributes to ongoing research on Ottoman manuscript culture, book collecting, and Ottoman libraries and determines Mehmed Ismet’s place in Ottoman intellectual history.
While examining the formation process of the library, the first claim of the article is that the foundation of Mehmed Ismet’s library was a collection inherited from his father, Ibrāhīm Agha, who was the steward of one of the grand viziers during the reign of Mehmed IV (r. 1648-1687). In addition, it is asserted that Mehmed Ismet managed to successfully expand his library by effectively using substantial wealth and economic power. Moreover, it is demonstrated that Mehmed Ismet’s collection grew with the books and treatises inherited from his brother Osmān Efendi, who died in December 1734 in Kavala, where he was the judge of the city. However, the number of manuscripts inherited from Osmān Efendi seemed extremely limited. The existing literature widely suggests that, except for those belonging to well-established ulema families who were controlling high-ranking offices in official ulema establishments, the wealth accumulation of the eighteenth-century Ottoman ulema was very limited to the extent that they survived with deep economic concerns. Yet, Mehmed Ismet lived in prosperity thanks to the substantial wealth inherited from his family, the gratuities he received from the panegyric poems he presented to high-ranking officials as well as the proceeds from the authored and translated works he did for them, his income from his professorship, his earnings from calligraphy, and the allowance from the pious foundation of Kādīzāde Mehmed Efendi, of which he was a trustee for a while. It is among the theses of the article that he financed the formation of his library with this wealth and, in line with his professional and personal interests, succeeded in establishing a library predominantly containing scholarly works pertaining to Islamic sciences, astronomy, and Sufism.
Another claim of this article is that as a skilled calligrapher of his age, Mehmed Ismet benefitted from his reputation when establishing his library. He relied on calligraphy not only to sustain his livelihood but also to reduce the expenses of creating a book collection. Available data demonstrate that he copied 28 books and 93 treatises for his library. Given that the entire collection did not survive to the present day, it can be assumed that the number of scholarly works that Mehmed Ismet duplicated and added to his collection was higher. He particularly enjoyed copying and collecting treatises, classifying and bounding them according to language, subject, and author. It can be argued in this respect that he was in full harmony with the eighteenth-century Ottoman intellectual circles, where treatises and pamphlets were in circulation. Nevertheless, one of the characteristics that distinguished Mehmed Ismet from the remaining book collectors of the period was his desire to expand his library by manipulating his official position. For instance, under the pretext of copying for his own library, he misappropriated 129 books belonging to the book collection of Kādīzāde Mehmed Efendi’s waqf, of which he was a trustee for a period. The fact that 51 of these books contained his ownership records and seventeen bore his personal seal indicates that he might have also embezzled books from other libraries and collections. However, no clear evidence of this possibility has been found.
The rich book collection that Mehmed Ismet was able to build by utilizing his personal and familial connections, his wealth, and his skills in calligraphy were expeditiously dispersed in a short time following his death. His books were purchased by his friends and the book collectors of the period, including high-ranking statesmen. This was such a rapid and sudden development that in his probate inventory, which was recorded seventy days after his death, only a few works related to Ottoman, Persian, and Arabic poetry were recorded. This situation contradicts given his skill in writing Turkish, Persian, and Arabic poems. The mention of only fifteen divans in the inventory and the complete absence of literary works by the great figures of classical Ottoman poetry such as Aḥmad Pasha (d. 1497), Nedjātī (d. 1509), Zātī (d. 1546), Fuḍūlī (d. 1556), Khayālī (d. 1557), Nefʿī (d. 1635), Nābī (d. 1712), and Nedīm (d. 1730) are clear indications of the sudden and rapid dispersal of the collection. This situation had prevented his library from being established as a permanent building until now. However, a significant portion of his books have been preserved in various book collections and have survived to date.
