How to illustrate a book? Some views about the ottoman art of book-making on the basis of the copies of dâsitân-ı ferruh u hüma [2020]

Abstract

In the book-production philosophy of the Ottoman era, the physical condition of a book was as important as its content. The writing, decoration, illustration, and binding of a book were considered to be parts of the art of book preparation and were given genuine importance. Since book production was an expensive endeavor under the conditions of the era, works of supreme artistic importance were produced under the auspices of the Ottoman court. Even though different aspects of the art of book preparation in the Ottoman era have been unearthed in the research up to this point, our knowledge is quite limited when it comes to the art of illustration (i.e. drawings). Questions such as how the drawings in the book were done by the illustrator (nakkaş), to what extend the content of the book determined the illustration of various scenes, to what extent tradition played a role in the drawings, and whether the writers were involved in the process of illustration have been the focus of research. It should be noted that there is not enough information to be found in the documents of the era to conclusively answer these questions. However, in Dâsitân-ı Ferruh u Hümâ, which was produced in the palace illustration-office (nakkaşhane) in the era of Mehmed III, we find information that can shed light on these issues. We are in possession of the author’s copy of this work as well as another copy that was rewritten and illustrated in the Ottoman illustration-office based on the author’s copy. This feature of the work is rare, and it enables us to conduct a comparative study. We observe that there are empty spaces for illustrations in the author’s copy; and, at the edge of these empty spaces, there are guiding notes written for the illustrator about what drawings should be used. In this paper, we will try to shed light on the process of the illustration of the books produced in the Ottoman era with the help of the new information obtained from Dâsitân-ı Ferruh u Hümâ. © 2020, Istanbul 29 Mayis University - ISAM, TDV Centre for Islamic Studies. All rights reserved.