Syrie

New Turkish Paperback. Cr. 8vo. (20 x 14 cm). In Turkish. 265 p., b/w ills. Bir Osmanli doktorunun anilari: Yüz yil önce Anadolu ve Suriye. Prep. by Cahit Kayra. First transcription edition. Memoirs of an Ottoman Intellectual: Anatolia and Syria a Century Ago. Dr. Serafeddin Magmumi was an Ottoman intellectual born in Istanbul in the 1860s. He was a medical doctor during the repressive reign of Sultan Abdulhamit II, charged with important responsibilities in the foundation of Ittihat ve Terakki (Union and Progress). He was later exiled to Paris after 1890s and continued his studies there. Because he could not return to Istanbul for political reasons, he settled in Cairo (Egypt) and became the private doctor of King Faroq of Egypt. He died in 1931. During his time in Cairo he wrote a several books. Dr. Magmumi's book records his memories about Anatolia and Syria. It was translated from Ottoman to Turkish by Cahit Kayra and published in 2001. According to Kayra, Dr. Magmumi (1860?-1931) was on the staff of Bongowsky, who was in charge of the Ottoman Health Organization to fight against the cholera epidemic. He set off for Bursa on the 9th of September 1894. He stayed there until the end of November and afterwards visited the settlements in the vicinity (Bandirma, Erdek, Balikesir, Edremit and Burhaniye/ Kemer) and their surrounding villages. At the end of December 1894, he arrived in Ayvalik, stayed a couple of weeks in the city and made detailed observations...