[Discussion] The Joseph Birge collection at CRL

[sule tarakcioglu]

Focus, the newsletter of the Center for Research Libraries (CRL), devotes
its current issue to the CRL's collections related to the Middle East.
Among these is the Center's Ottoman Turkish Collection (see below).

The Center for Research Libraries (CRL) is a consortium of North American
universities, colleges, and independent research libraries. The consortium
acquires and preserves newspapers, journals, documents, archives, and
other traditional and digital resources for research and teaching and
makes them available to member institutions through interlibrary loan
and electronic delivery.  For more information, consult the CRL website
www.crl.edu

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http://www.crl.edu/FocusArticles/Ottoman_Collection.htm

The Ottoman Turkish Collection

The Ottoman Turkish Collection at the Center for Research Libraries
features a significant number of monographs and periodical materials
dating from 1860-1928.  The material types vary from mainstream
publications to rarely held travel journals.  The majority of
the materials were acquired from the collection of Joseph Birge, a
missionary and scholar who lived in Turkey and conducted personal
research on the Bektashi dervish order.  The material was amassed
over time in support of his activities at the mission, but also
for his Bektashi studies.  Much of the material relates to school
instruction -- books for religious instruction, textbooks, and
dictionaries -- plus tracts on the Bektashis, religious practices,
and poetry.

The collection features noteworthy periodical compilations, including:
* Mainstream daily newspapers like Tanin.
* Alternative press publications.
* Short runs of political satire magazines: 1918-19 editions of Diken and
Yeni Kalem from the late 1920s.
* Maarif, a science periodical, which contains articles in French and
translations from French into Turkish.
* Osmanli Ressamlar Mecmuasi, which contains reprints of Ottoman-era
artistic works in both Western and Islamic styles.

Provincial and departmental yearbooks, called Salnames, represent another
intriguing part the Joseph Birge acquisition.  The Salname collection
includes specimens from the Ottoman Empire dating from 1891 to 1906,
and cover numerous provinces and regions.  Many contain maps.

Researchers across many disciplines will want to explore the array of
travel journals, called Sefaretname.  Many of these detail the travels
of Ottoman officials or notables in foreign lands, particularly Western
Europe. Ahmet Resmi and Ahmet Azim's account of their journey to Prussia
is included, as is their encounter with Frederick the Great.  Other
journals catalog travels throughout the Ottoman Empire and farther east.

Cataloging of the Ottoman Turkish collection is currently underway.
Materials will be available for member use in the near future.
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