Description

Paperback. Pbo. Oblong large 8vo. (20 x 22 cm). In English and Turkish. 312 p., many color and b/w ills. Journey to the center of the East, 1850-1950. 100 years of travelers in Istanbul from Pierre de Gigord Collection.= Dogu'nun merkezine seyahat, 1850-1950. Pierre de Gigord Koleksiyonu'ndan Istanbul'da gezginlerin 100 yili. [Exhibition catalogue]. Coordinated by Zeynep Ögel, Erkan Bora, Gülru Tanman. This exhibition tells the tale of the Istanbul-centred travels of curious Westerners, who ventured out to the East from the 18th century onwards. Geographers, archaeologists, linguists, architects, botanist and clergymen all travelled across the East from the late 18th until the mid-19th century researching their particular interests. After the Crimean War, the expedition-oriented travel that was so popular until the 1850s was replaced by a different kind of travel. The objective was no longer information gathering, but tourism. Based on materials selected from the vast collection of Pierre de Gigord, one of the leading collectors of Ottoman-era photographs and ephemera, this exhibition sheds light on the early years of mass tourism that replaced individual journeys of discovery and transformed travel culture.