Books

1884. İstanbul, Matbaa-i Ebuzziya, 1301 [1884]. 8vo (180 x 120 mm). Uncut, unopened. Unbound without wrappers as issued. Turkish in Arabic script. 11 loose stapled gatherings, as issued. Extremities with soiling and first leaf missing lower 5 mm, far from affecting text. Last leaf detached. Internally clean. A good copy of a very fragile publication. 176 pp. Extremely rare first Turkish translation Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice - The first work by Shakespeare, translated directly from English, to be published in Turkey, one of the very first translations of any English literature into Turkish. As Ottoman power was waning, some sultans developed a passion for Shakespeare. Sultan Abdülhamid II, who ruled about 34 years and earned fame as a despot, was a theatre buff with an intense interest in Shakespeare's tragedies and comedies. It was rumored in the late 19th century that when The Merchant of Venice was presented at the special exclusive palace theatre in ?stanbul, and…

The First Folio is the first collected edition of William Shakespeare's plays, published in 1623. It is also known as 'Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies'.