#OA44
1833
331 p. Original quarter-leather binding. Leather spine with star ornament and the book title. Corners of the binding are bumped, spine has a tear, traces of a book-worm at the margin of the last 30 pages, otherwise a good copy.
First edition and first translation in Ottoman Mémoires du duc de Rovigo pour servir à l’histoire de l’empereur Napoléon, originally printed in Paris in 1828. According to Halil İbrahim Erol in his work 1798-1850 Arası Mısır’da Matbaa: Tarih Alanında Neşir ve Tercüme Faaliyetleri it was translated by Hasan ve Aziz Efendi by direct order of then de-facto ruler of Egypt Muhammad Ali Pasha (1769-1849), who was interested in Bonaparte to the extent of calling himself ‘Second Bonaparte’ in his correspondence. Only one volume was translated, as it covered French invasion of Egypt and Syria.
The interest in Napoleon among Ottoman readers was evidential, as the Emperor bought the battle of Alexandria in 1801, 32 years prior to publication of this book there, which French eventually lost, which was an important stepping stone to Ottoman-British victory in the campaign. Alexandria also was the place, where Napoleon established the first printing press in Egypt Imprimerie Orientale et Française, founded by Joseph Marcel, with Latin, Greek and Arabic types. It has produced 20 titles, and was moved to Cairo soon after, where the official newspaper of the French occupation was printed, Le Courier d’Egypte.
Rare with only two paper copies showing outside of Turkey, in Princeton and UPenn.
