Overview

Volume I of E.J.W. Gibb's classic study of Ottoman Poetry here reissued with a new foreword by Christine Woodhead covers the period 1300 to c. 1450. Gibb's History of Ottoman Poetry, first published in six volumes between 1900 to 1909, provided the first extended account in English of Ottoman Turkish literature. Based on an impressively wide reading of over five centuries of Ottoman classical poetry and of literary critical works produced by Ottoman commentators, it conveyed not only fascinating information but also a deeply informed understanding of the cultural world of educated Ottomans. Gibb selected and analysed epic poems, religious verse, romances, panegyrics and, above all, lyric poetry. He examined the biographies and social contexts of poets, and he prefaced his work with a much-admired introductory account of Ottoman mysticism and religious philosophy. He included throughout the volumes a wealth of explanatory notes designed to help 'the ordinary English reader' appreciate this little-known culture. The History is a classic work which remains a valued introduction to its subject. This volume is part of a six-volume set. Volumes IIV focus purely on poetry and poets, while Volume V includes additionally 100 pages of indices to the volumes, prepared by Reynold A. Nicholson. Volume VI, the final volume, comprises the Ottoman text of poems included in the preceding volumes.

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9781399559713

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Reviews

A pioneer in the analytic study of Ottoman poetry, Gibb granted Ottoman Turkish literature unprecedented attention. Even within the Orientalist, evolutionary discourse that frames his colossal history, he emerges as an enthusiastic, perceptive reader who “reckoned a critical faculty” with individual poets and works. His History is not only a chronicle, but an early, astonishing instance of modernist literary historiography. -- Selim Kuru, University of Washington More than a century later, this book remains an informative and valuable resource for scholars and anyone interested in the long history of Ottoman Turkish poetry and the major developments. And to this day, exclusive to the work are many sample verses in English translation. -- Sooyong Kim, Koç University

Author Information

Elias John Wilkinson Gibb, a scholar who devoted his life to researching the history, literature, philosophy and religion of the Turks, Persians and Arabs. His particular interest was the poetry of Ottoman Turkey, the fruits of which were published, mostly posthumously, in the six-volume History of Ottoman Poetry. Christine Woodhead is Honorary Fellow in Ottoman History at the University of Durham.

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