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A BOOK-WORM'S DREAMS COME TRUE
Hurriyet Daily News
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
A festival conveniently located in Istanbul's central Taksim Square
brings to light the centuries-old trade of selling used books. The
festival, in which antique and rare booksellers from all over Istanbul
come together, is rich enough to make any bookworm feel like they
are in paradise.
The Beyoglu Sahaflar Used Book Festival will go on until Oct. 11.
The Beyoglu Sahaflar Used Book Festival will go on until Oct. 11.
A dream come true for any bookworm, the third Beyoglu Sahaflar
Festivali brings to light a trade endangered by modern bookstores and
the e-book. The festival in Istanbul's Taksim Square features more
than 75 booksellers from all over Istanbul specializing in antique,
rare and used books. The event runs through Oct. 11.
"There are regular customers and visitors from last year. It is
becoming a traditional event," said Nedret Ä°Å~_li of Turkuaz, a used
and antique bookseller in the Galata district. Ä°Å~_li acted as the
coordinator between Beyoglu Municipality and the booksellers.
He has found the event to be fruitful. "Old books see the light of
day. The trade artisans economically benefit [from the event]. And it
is instrumental in terms of forming new [book] collectors and [book]
fans," he said. He added that the interest in the event has grown from
last year and that even though it has rained during the festival,
people still came to see, shop, and look for rare books. Ä°Å~_li
said he would like to see the festival cover used booksellers from
all around Turkey and even from abroad.
He likens his craft to "selling mirrors in a country of blind
people." "It is difficult to find books in good shape; it is
difficult to find old books; it is also difficult to get these books
to those interested in them," he said. Ä°Å~_li's company sells books on
Ottoman history in the Ottoman language, books about Turkey in foreign
languages, books on the Ottom tanbul. "And [we sell] old books in the
Armenian and Greek languages. My partner is Armenian and this is his
expertise," he said.
A lifestyle
Another festival participant, Lutfu Seymen, the owner of antique and
used bookstore Muteferrika in Kadıköy, has been in the business for
more than 30 years. For Seymen, being an antique and used bookseller
is a lifestyle. Seymen specializes in rare and antique books, with his
expertise in the history of press, books in the Ottoman language and
his hometown Kastamonu. He also collects books on history, history
of literature, books in Turkish, English, and Ottoman languages and
dictionaries.
"It is necessary to know Ottoman [language and read Arabic letters]
to be able to understand rare, valuable books," said Seymen. He
believes it is hard to find good valuable books as Turks are not in
the habit of reading and the diminutive number of readers in Turkey
comes as a challenge to his trade. "Readers are a minority in Turkey
such as Armenians or Greeks," said Seymen.
"I buy books that are in my field of interest. If they interest me,
I first read it and then sell it. Books resemble women in a way - one
can become jealous of them. So I would like to sell to people I know
will read it," Seymen said. "Some just collect books and don't share
them with others; I would not like to sell to them. Some, especially
from academic circles, might get inspired to write new books after
he or she reads it. I would like them to have my books," he said.
"I am afraid we might be the last representatives of the
trade. Electronic books and the Internet are becoming widespread. But
I doubt that [reading a book online] will give the same feeling as
holding and smelling a book," said Seymen. "Our trade is like being a
'guardian of culture.' We work to relay an accumulation of information
just so that the memory is refreshed and is not chipped away."
A Don Quixote-like business
Halil Bingöl, the owner of BarıÅ~_ Bookstore in Beyoglu, has
been in the busine overs define him as a man "with a brain like the
Google search engine." He defines being a used and antique bookseller
in Turkey as a "joyful, funny and Don Quixote-like business." The
difficulties of the trade stem from the lack of interest in books
by the public, believes Bingöl. "We appeal to around 100 people in
Turkey in general. Otherwise, all these books," he said, pointing to
the antique books behind him in his little corner stand, "would have
been sold as soon as they got here."
Bingöl's knowledge of his subject would make Google jealous. "The
first book to be printed in Istanbul was in Hebrew. It was named 'Albaa
Turim' and was a grammar book for children. Seven copies remain in the
world; one of them is in the Yale University library. Then Ä°brahim
Muteferrika printed the first book in the Turkish language in 1729 in
Turkey. But Turkish books had been printed before that date: In 1550,
the first Italian-Turkish dictionary was printed with Roman letters
in Venice," he said.
He explained that the print had been introduced to the Ottoman Empire
much earlier than the first books started to be printed in the Turkish
language. "There were artisans' guilds [such as calligraphers' guilds]
and in order not to threaten their livelihood, the print was not
employed to print religious books or books in Turkish language. But
the Ottomans did not take away the rights of foreigners living in
the empire," added Bingöl.
Hurriyet Daily News
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
A festival conveniently located in Istanbul's central Taksim Square
brings to light the centuries-old trade of selling used books. The
festival, in which antique and rare booksellers from all over Istanbul
come together, is rich enough to make any bookworm feel like they
are in paradise.
The Beyoglu Sahaflar Used Book Festival will go on until Oct. 11.
The Beyoglu Sahaflar Used Book Festival will go on until Oct. 11.
A dream come true for any bookworm, the third Beyoglu Sahaflar
Festivali brings to light a trade endangered by modern bookstores and
the e-book. The festival in Istanbul's Taksim Square features more
than 75 booksellers from all over Istanbul specializing in antique,
rare and used books. The event runs through Oct. 11.
"There are regular customers and visitors from last year. It is
becoming a traditional event," said Nedret Ä°Å~_li of Turkuaz, a used
and antique bookseller in the Galata district. Ä°Å~_li acted as the
coordinator between Beyoglu Municipality and the booksellers.
He has found the event to be fruitful. "Old books see the light of
day. The trade artisans economically benefit [from the event]. And it
is instrumental in terms of forming new [book] collectors and [book]
fans," he said. He added that the interest in the event has grown from
last year and that even though it has rained during the festival,
people still came to see, shop, and look for rare books. Ä°Å~_li
said he would like to see the festival cover used booksellers from
all around Turkey and even from abroad.
He likens his craft to "selling mirrors in a country of blind
people." "It is difficult to find books in good shape; it is
difficult to find old books; it is also difficult to get these books
to those interested in them," he said. Ä°Å~_li's company sells books on
Ottoman history in the Ottoman language, books about Turkey in foreign
languages, books on the Ottom tanbul. "And [we sell] old books in the
Armenian and Greek languages. My partner is Armenian and this is his
expertise," he said.
A lifestyle
Another festival participant, Lutfu Seymen, the owner of antique and
used bookstore Muteferrika in Kadıköy, has been in the business for
more than 30 years. For Seymen, being an antique and used bookseller
is a lifestyle. Seymen specializes in rare and antique books, with his
expertise in the history of press, books in the Ottoman language and
his hometown Kastamonu. He also collects books on history, history
of literature, books in Turkish, English, and Ottoman languages and
dictionaries.
"It is necessary to know Ottoman [language and read Arabic letters]
to be able to understand rare, valuable books," said Seymen. He
believes it is hard to find good valuable books as Turks are not in
the habit of reading and the diminutive number of readers in Turkey
comes as a challenge to his trade. "Readers are a minority in Turkey
such as Armenians or Greeks," said Seymen.
"I buy books that are in my field of interest. If they interest me,
I first read it and then sell it. Books resemble women in a way - one
can become jealous of them. So I would like to sell to people I know
will read it," Seymen said. "Some just collect books and don't share
them with others; I would not like to sell to them. Some, especially
from academic circles, might get inspired to write new books after
he or she reads it. I would like them to have my books," he said.
"I am afraid we might be the last representatives of the
trade. Electronic books and the Internet are becoming widespread. But
I doubt that [reading a book online] will give the same feeling as
holding and smelling a book," said Seymen. "Our trade is like being a
'guardian of culture.' We work to relay an accumulation of information
just so that the memory is refreshed and is not chipped away."
A Don Quixote-like business
Halil Bingöl, the owner of BarıÅ~_ Bookstore in Beyoglu, has
been in the busine overs define him as a man "with a brain like the
Google search engine." He defines being a used and antique bookseller
in Turkey as a "joyful, funny and Don Quixote-like business." The
difficulties of the trade stem from the lack of interest in books
by the public, believes Bingöl. "We appeal to around 100 people in
Turkey in general. Otherwise, all these books," he said, pointing to
the antique books behind him in his little corner stand, "would have
been sold as soon as they got here."
Bingöl's knowledge of his subject would make Google jealous. "The
first book to be printed in Istanbul was in Hebrew. It was named 'Albaa
Turim' and was a grammar book for children. Seven copies remain in the
world; one of them is in the Yale University library. Then Ä°brahim
Muteferrika printed the first book in the Turkish language in 1729 in
Turkey. But Turkish books had been printed before that date: In 1550,
the first Italian-Turkish dictionary was printed with Roman letters
in Venice," he said.
He explained that the print had been introduced to the Ottoman Empire
much earlier than the first books started to be printed in the Turkish
language. "There were artisans' guilds [such as calligraphers' guilds]
and in order not to threaten their livelihood, the print was not
employed to print religious books or books in Turkish language. But
the Ottomans did not take away the rights of foreigners living in
the empire," added Bingöl.