Folio (32 × 22.5 cm). 23, [1], 564 p. Sarlavla title page decorated with traditional ornamental motifs., 17 full-page lithographed diagrams (mostly astronomical), 6 lithographed diagrams in text, and 8 full-page lithographed charts. Original full leather binding with miklep (traditional envelope flap), boards stamped with an embossed motifs throughout the boards. Rebacked. With contemporary owner’s inscriptions and annotations throughout, his name is likely signed on the page prior to title page. 

Third printed edition of this celebrated scientific and philosophical encyclopedia by Sufi philosopher and scholar Ibrahim Hakki Erzurumi (1703-1780).

The Maʿrifetnâme is particularly distinguished for its treatment of post-Copernican astronomy, representing the earliest sustained engagement with heliocentric models by a Muslim scholar. İbrahim Hakkı integrates contemporary astronomical knowledge into an Islamic intellectual framework, reconciling new cosmological theories with religious, philosophical, and metaphysical traditions. The work’s rich illustrative program reinforces its scientific ambitions and pedagogical function, comprising a world map rendered in two hemispheres, a map of the polar regions, diagrams of lunar phases, representations of the solar system, and charts elucidating the Earth’s orbital motion and broader cosmological structure.

These visual and textual components together underscore the encyclopedic scope of the Maʿrifetnâme, positioning it as both a scientific compendium and a didactic manual. The systematic presentation of complex subjects—ranging from cosmology and geography to anatomy and metaphysics—reflects the author’s intent to offer a comprehensive synthesis of knowledge accessible to learned readers while remaining firmly grounded in Islamic scholarly tradition.

The volume was printed at the Bulaq (al-Amiriyya) Press, the first official state printing house of Egypt, founded in 1820 by Muhammad Ali Pasha (1769–1849) as part of his broader program of administrative, military, and cultural modernization. Operating on industrial printing principles, the Bulaq Press played a decisive role in the dissemination of scientific, historical, and literary knowledge throughout Egypt and the wider Arab world, marking a qualitative and quantitative transformation in regional print culture.