Salname-i Nezaret-i Hariciye[A Yearbook of the Ottoman Foreign Ministry]. Constantinople [Istanbul]: Imp. Eb-uz-zia, 1302 H [1884].

First edition. Octavo (ca. 21,5x15,5 cm). 4, 630, [1] pp. (numbered in Eastern Arabic system). Text in Ottoman Turkish, the book includes: table of contents, title page with date of issue in Lunar and Solar hijri, Islamic calendar with sunsets and sunrises. Original publisher’s red full cloth with the gilt stamped seal of Sultan Abdulhamid II (1842-1918) on the front cover, gilt lettered title on the spine, and decorative blind stamped frames on both boards; new endpapers. Binding with minor mild water stains, paper slightly age toned, otherwise a very good copy.

Very rare Ottoman imprint with only four paper copies found in Worldcat. First volume of the rare “yearbook” series published by the Ottoman Foreign Ministry (there were only four volumes issued in 1302, 1306, 1318 & 1320 H. – 1884/85, 1888/89, 1901/2, 1902/3 AD). First “Salnames” or yearbooks (from Persian “sal”- “year” and “nameh” - letter) of the Ottoman government were published in 1847 in course of the reforms of Reshit Pasha (1800-1858), and were based on the model of Gotha almanac; the publications were stopped in 1918. The first volume of “Salname-i Nezaret-i Hariciye” includes a brief note on the history of the Ottoman Ministry of Foreign Affairs and its predecessors Reis Efendis, a list of all sultans of the Ottoman Empire, their Grand Viziers, ministers and ambassadors; information on the latest events in the Empire’s international affairs, the most influential foreign countries, their governments, rulers (“hukumdars”), and ambassadors in the Ottoman Empire, et al. There are also extracts from the Ottoman government official papers, e.g. A relation by the Imperial Council (dated 1258 H/ 1842 AD), about the appointment of Mehmed Emin Rauf Pasha (1780-1859) as the Grand Vizier to Sultan Abdülmecit I (r. 1839-1861) (see p. 22).The almanac starts with tughra of Sultan Abdulhamid II and praises for him, and contains Islamic calendar with sunsets and sunrises. The book was printed by a well-known Ebüzziya typography, which was owned by Ebuzzia Tevfik Bey (1848-1913), bright Turkish writer, journalist and supporter of the Young Turks movement. “Salname-i Nezaret-i Hariciye” is a valuable source on history and foreign policy of the Ottoman Empire.

See more: Duman, H. Ottoman Yearbooks: Salname and Nevsal. Istanbul: Organisation of Islamic Conference, 1982. Ozege 6934; Duman 600.