"This is an extraordinary privately assembled encyclopaedia, focused on Mecca as the Navel of the World. Written in manuscript in thin black and red pens in Ottoman language, it contains over 580 pages of manuscript in tiny characters, sometimes accompanied with charts, over 380 manuscript maps, made with extreme care in precision in colours and with gold and silver highlights, over 225 prints from magazines, books, atlases and other sources from the late 19th and early 20th centuries, often joined in collages and compositions with hand-drawn maps. The maps are made with a greatest precision in well planned configuration. The colours are carefully applied to give an instant effect of a modern data visualisation. The gilt highlights and small details in black ink express the author’s endless patience and dedication to the project. The manuscripts, maps and illustrations are tastefully and carefully joined together thematically in foldouts and pamphlets, bound together with linen or paper stripes or strings. Shorter subjects and uncut plates also appear as separate leaves. We could count 217 such separate units. The whole collection is housed in three charming boxes, possibly made by the author from commercial boxes and leftovers of the linen, which he used for drawings of some of the maps. The anonymous author, doubtless a Muslim intellectual, took the information from the contemporary sources and atlases and smartly combined them in his own unique compositions. He also often added his own annotations, colouring and keys to the prints, which he took from the books and magazines. The manuscripts give an impression of a coherent collection, which was probably never meant for a publication. It was possibly an author private project, to which he dedicated years or decades of his life. It is possible that the collection was meant for a private education. Focus on Mecca The maps with geographic, historic and thematic data focus on the Arabian Peninsula with Mecca as a center. Throughout the series the city is often smartly positioned in the middle of the folds, to give the impression, that the world and around it opens like a flower. In the collection we could trace approximately 23 maps, where Mecca is represented in the central point of the world, 24 maps showcasing only the Arabian Peninsula or parts of it or / and the Red Sea, circa 25 maps of Mecca or/and its surroundings and sketches of the Kaaba and 11 views and prints of Mecca. The latter ones have been taken from other publications and integrated into the encyclopaedia by the author. Medina is represented with two manuscript maps and 8 views. The views here are as well taken from other publications. Separate pamphlets also focus on the history of the Arabian Peninsula and the history of its inhabitants with a chart on the tribes of Arabia. With this work the author geographically represented Mecca as the central point, a navel of the global culture and history from the ancient times up to the present days. Other Subjects The pamphlets and fold-outs are bound together thematically and represent the cultures, history and geography of the World from its beginnings until the early 20th century. The manuscript units with maps, charts and illustrations describe subjects such as geology, time through the Ottoman time charts, astronomy and astrology, ancient cultures and monuments (Babylon, Mesopotamia, Ancient Greece, Baalbek etc.), old geographic representations, such as Tabula Peutingeriana and parts of Fra Mauro’s map, America on old maps, discoveries on America and later discoveries and explorations, thematic maps of the world and parts of the world etc. A large portion of the maps is dedicated to the Mediterranean Basement (ca 152 maps) and the Balkans, with the large Ottoman battles. The other maps focus on Asia, America (ca 5 maps of North America, 2 maps of Central America), other continents and the whole world (27 maps of the world). The author seems unattached an ambivalent to Istanbul and Turkey, as the region is almost neglected in the manuscripts, which is the opposite of the contemporary glorification of the newly founded Turkey and the magnificent history of Istanbul. Also hardly represented are the African regions, including the Muslim ones. It is possible, that the author spent most of his life on the Arabian Peninsula and was not attached to the cultural and political center Istanbul. Authorship and Date The author of the work is not signed, neither are the maps dated. According to the attached note, the collection was allegedly connected with the family of the Turkish writer Ahmed Cemil Akıncı (1914-1984). His father and a possible author, Abdürrahim Hilmi Bey (Sipahizâde) was of Sipahi origins from Rumelia and was educated at the Fatih Madrasa in Istanbul. Hilmi Bey was in charge for the railway and education in Egypt, Palestine, Syria and Hejaz, where he spent a large part of his life. This would explain the author’s unattachment to Istanbul and Turkey. The paper, style and material of the boxes indicate the late 1910s and 1920s. Some of the maps confirm this period of time: a series of thematic world maps (possibly drafted after a contemporary Ottoman atlas) showcase the world in 1915 (1331 Rumi years). An illustration from a magazine, representing a map A Child’s Map of the Ancient World, by Alice York and Ilonka Karasz, was published in 1926. It is the youngest dated document, which we could trace in the collection. References: Unrecorded. [S. l., s. d. Possibly Ottoman Empire / Turkey, late 1910s-1920s]. A magnificent hand-written privately assembled encyclopaedia of the World, affectionately assembled and curated by an enlightened Muslim scholar in the last years of the Ottoman Empire, with over 580 text pages and 380 hand drawn detailed maps with gilt highlights, represents Mecca as the Navel of the World and the connecting point between the ancient civilisations and culture and the modern East and West. Collation: 3 red privately custom-made boxes, constructed of thick card with red linen surface with debossed lettering and decoration, patterned paper mounted inside, each with a black cloth loop with a knot, edges originally reinforced with linen, some linen parts with details of manuscript maps, 9 x 14 x 20 cm (3.5 x 5.5 x 7.8 inches). The boxes contain: - 217 separate units of fold-outs (leporellos), pamphlets and maps composed of sheets of paper, privately joined with straps of linen, sporadically also with stripes of paper or bound together with a sting. Most units with 4-8 pp., but also single sheet units and pamphlets with up to 16 pp. manuscript text. Most of the text accompanied with manuscript maps, mostly mounted verso. Some manuscript maps on loose linen waxed paper. Also includes sporadic single prints from books and magazines and postcards, not edited by the author. - The 217 units include: - - Over 580 manuscript text pages, some with charts in text, plus additional text comments and keys. Black and red ink on paper of various quality and thick card, each 18 x 11,5 cm (7 x 4.5 inches) when folded. - - More than 380 manuscript maps, including multiple maps on one sheet and folding maps. The maps are mostly mounted or drawn on cards on the inner side of the fold-outs and pamphlets, on the back of the text sheets. Some manuscript maps on loose waxed linen paper sheets. Most of the maps are ornated with gilt highlights. Black, purple and red ink and water colours on paper and linen paper, from 18 x 11,5 cm to 18 x 44 cm (7 x 4.5 inches to 7 x 17.3 inches), mostly mounted on the back of text pages, but also loose sheets. - - More than 225 prints, mostly mounted in compositions with maps, pictorial panels and more than 35 collages. The prints of various, mostly small sizes include maps, lithographs, chromolithographs, steel engravings, wood-cuts, postcards (cut and uncut), photo-reproductions, illustrations from books and magazines etc. Some prints (mostly illustrations from books and postcards) are added as unedited and uncut sheets. The prints have been taken from mostly Ottoman, but also German, French and English publications. Various techniques, some with manuscript annotations in black ink or with hand colour. - Additional unsorted sheets of manuscript and illustrations. Condition report: Boxes with some staining and minor wear on the edges, manuscripts and maps overall in a good clean condition with minor staining, foxing and wear. Sporadic maps and manuscripts are left unfinished." (Alexander Johnson and Dasa Pahor, 2020)
