Manuscrits, livres et culture livresque à Istanbul

Abstract

Works on the history of books and libraries in the Ottoman Empire is still in its very early stages. Authors who do publish on the subject emphasize the technical history of printing, the history of art and the written book. Since authors come up against a number of problems such as sources, it is of interest to present background concerning written books in Istanbul and their production and distribution as well as describing the public reading places available to the inhabitants of the capital. The article also analyzes the portrait of the Turkish reader and the « reading capacity » of the intellectual Ottoman over the centuries especially during the 16th to 19th centuries.

Keywords

• manuscripts