Book Description

From the Preface by Sven Becker:

This catalogue comprises a selection of armorial bindings, bindings produced by specific workshops, and fine bindings from historic collections. To a lesser extent, it also includes bindings made distinctive by some particularity. For example, bindings commissioned for presentation, bindings that are stylistically unusual for their time and place, and publisher’s bindings made ad hoc for the author or for an uncommon deluxe issue.

All are drawn from the ‘Ottoman Lands’ shelves of the Ömer Koç library. The six volumes of the library catalogue published to date all had Constantinople as the primary subject. The present catalogue’s broader remit gives a clearer glimpse of the collection’s true extent: the Ömer Koç library is rich in material relating to Egypt, the Caucasus, the Balkans, Palestine, Anatolia and all the lands that were once under Ottoman sway.