Very Good Turkish, Ottoman (1500-1928) Paperback. Pbo. 4to. (28 x 20 cm). In Ottoman script. 64 p. Hejra: 1340 = Gregorian: 1924. Özege 11925. First and only edition of Turkmen poet Mahdumkulu (Mahtumkulu)'s diwan in Ottoman Turkish. Mahdumkulu ve yedi asirlik Türkce bir manzume. Annotations and research by [Hüseyin Kazim Kadri], Seyh Muhsin Fanî. Mahtumkulu was an Iranian-Turkmen spiritual leader and philosophical poet who made great efforts to secure independence and autonomy for his people in the 18th century. Magtymguly is widely believed to have been born in the Hajygowshan village near Gonbad-e Qabus city in what is now the Iranian province of Golestan, the northern steppes of which are known as Turkmen Sahra ("Turkmen steppes"). In his poetry, Magtymguly says "Tell those who enquire about me that I am a Gerkez, I hail from Etrek and my name is Makhtumkuli," identifying his homeland as the banks of the Etrek River and expressing his identity through his tribe. He received his early education in the Persian and Arabic languages from his father Döwletmämmet Azady, a leading scholar at that time. He went on to study in various madrassahs, including the Idris Baba Madrassah in the village of Gyzyl Ayak, the Madrassah of Shir Gazi Khan in Khiva, and may have also studied in Bukhara for some time. Upon his return home, Magtymguly worked as a silversmith while he taught and wrote. He went on to develop a realistic style of writing about 18th century Turkmen that proved very popular and ultimately led to him becoming one of the most cherished Turkmen poets of all time. He was also a devout naqshbandi Sufist who was said to have traveled throughout all the lands comprising modern Turkmenistan, teaching and praying for the salvation of his people. Not much is known about Magtymguly's family life. He was unable to marry Mengli, the woman that he loved, yet it seems he was married to someone else. His elder brothers Abdulla and Mahammetsupa disappeared, and his children died young. Magtymguly was also pained by the loss of his father, with whom he had maintained close scholarly relations throughout his life. Some of Magtymguly's poetry, along with stories collected from Turkmen oral traditions, suggest that the poet was taken prisoner at some point in his lifetime, likely in Mashad, Iran. It is unknown who took him captive, yet such events were common in 18th century Iran and Turkmenistan. A servant of the ruler, who was also a Turkmen, allegedly aided Magtymguly's escape. Magtymguly is buried in Aktokay village in north-eastern Iran. The Iranian government has inaugurated a mausoleum on his grave. Magtymguly was one of the first Turkmen poets to introduce the use of the classical Chagatai, the court language of the Khans of Central Asia, as a literary language, incorporating many Turkmen linguistic features. As such, his poetry exemplifies a trend towards increased usage of Turkic languages (as opposed to Persian), and Magtymguly is revered as the founder of Turkmen poetry, literature, and language. Magtymguly is widely revered as holy among Turkmen communities, and his poems are often quoted as proverbs in Turkmen society. Magtymguly made wide use of the qoshuk form of poetry, which features prominently in Turkmen folk songs and is easily adapted to Turkmen musical forms. The qoshuk form consists of quatrains with lines consisting of eight or eleven syllables, and follows a rhyming scheme of ABCB for the first stanza and CCCB, DDDB, etc. for the following stanzas. The compatibility of Magtymguly's poems with traditional musical forms allowed them to be easily adopted by bakhshis, traditional singers. Magtymguly's first poem, "By night when I was asleep... Revelation", was composed following an incident when Magtymguly was a young boy. His parents were attending a wedding, but Magtymguly was sleeping, and they left him behind. As he slept, he began to foam at the mouth, and his parents were called back to the house. When his father awoke him, Magtymguly recited his fir
