Description

Full morocco in Ottoman style. Foolscap 8vo. (18,5 x 12 cm). In Ottoman script (Old Turkish with Arabic letters). 176 p. Extremely rare first Turkish translation of the Merchant of Venice by Shakespeare in book form. The Merchant of Venice (1885) and The Comedy of Errors (1886-87) were the earliest translations into Turkish by Hasan Sirri, which had the chance to be published in book form. Translators in the Ottoman era had to cope with three obstacles: cultural differences, difficulty in language, and censorship. Shakespeare's works were no exception, as Gönül Bakay argues "the early, Ottoman-period translators and producers expunged the negative imagery" (2004: np) of the Turks in his plays. Even The Merchant of Venice was banned because "it was believed that the theme would offend the Empire's (after 1923, the Republic's) Jewish population". The first play fully translated for print was actually the Merchant of Venice, published in 1885 in Turkish (Arabic letters - Ottoman script). There is a good deal of conjecture about the name of the translator: Only two initials appear on the book, H. and I. now claimed to be the first letter of the first name and the last letter of the last name of a Hasan Sirri. The translator of this book Örikagasizâde Hasan Sirri, (1861-1939), was an administrator and educator who grew up during the reign of Abdulhamid II and was in state service for almost forty years. He was the son of Turkish diwan poet Ahmet Nafiz Pasha and the father of author Nahid Sirri Örik. Özege 22638.; Only three copies in OCLC: 929866546 (NY Uni Lib.; Bogaziçi Uni Lib.; and Library of Congress. Karl Su?ssheim Collection, no. 1527).

Lingue: Turkish, Ottoman (1500-1928)