A Book I Have: Rosenblätter
I am not a rare-book person. I'd rather be able to read it than have to keep it under glass and admire it from a distance. But that doesn't mean I don't admire something beautiful when I run across it.
This book is Rosenblätter: Lieder und Sprüche des Volksängers und Improvisators Assim-Agha Gül hanendé. Or, in English, Rose Petals: Songs and Speaches by folk singer and improvisor Assim-Agha Gül hanendé. The poetry was originally written in Turkish, so far as I can tell from the German introduction, and was translated by Bernhardine Schulze-Smidt.
Try as I might, I can find little information online about this book - it seems to be somewhat rare, at least in the U.S. - but I'd love to know more. The above picture, on the lower left, mentions publication in Bremen, in 1893. There's even a small piece of paper cut and glued on the very first page: Büchbinderei Hebel & Denck, Leipzig. Very old school. (And it's a small thing, but I think it's pretty awesome that the translator mentions a trip to Constantinople in her introduction.)
I'm especially curious about all of these color illustrations. Every single page has them, and they're not all the same, either.
Cool! How did you come across this book?
ReplyDeleteI found it while I was working at Half Price. I only paid $4 for it, but I feel like it must be worth more - color illustrations in the late 1800s!
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