![]() The catalogue then continues chronologically with works from the following three-and-a-quarter centuries, to the eve of the Greek War of Independence. Volume 1 (which includes Norman Stone’s introduction to the collection) begins within living memory of the Ottoman Turkish conquest of Constantinople of 1453 with a landmark incunable: the first edition of Hartmann Schedel’s Liber chronicarum (commonly known as the ‘Nuremberg chronicle’) of 1493, ‘one of the masterpieces of 15th-century graphic art’ with its famous double-page woodcut view of Constantinople. Each volume ends with a bibliography and index. These first two volumes of the catalogue satisfyingly reflect the library’s significance in their imposing folio format, presenting 456 works (some in multiple editions) dating from the fifteenth to the mid-nineteenth centuries with bibliographic detail, informative descriptions, and a wealth of colour illustrations. ‘For most of the 20th century it must have seemed impossible that another library could be formed comparable to that of Gennadios now, however, one begins to wonder’. ‘The most obvious comparisons will be with the Blackmer and Atabey collections, and there are many books here from those distinguished sources, but Mr Koç’s library now exceeds those in both breadth and depth’, writes the cataloguer, Angus O’Neill, in his preface. With the publication of the first two volumes of the catalogue Impressions of Istanbul: Voyage to Constantinoplebibliophile armchair travellers now not only have the opportunity to learn about the many accounts which told the Western world about the Istanbul of the past, its people, customs, culture, and beauty, but also to step virtually into the astounding library into which they were gathered over the course of several decades by Ömer Koç, the noted Turkish philanthropist and patron of the arts. ![]() ‘n addition to his sketching materials, he took a loaf of bread, a bottle of wine and a Bologna sausage to fortify himself during the day’ – he was, indeed, ‘lucky not to have been apprehended’ (no. The city’s most famous mosque, the Hagia Sofia, proved to be a challenge, but with the help of persuasion and bribery Grelot finally managed to obtain entry. In the late seventeenth century Guillaume Grelot travelled to Constantinople to document its monuments. Guillaume Joseph Grelot, A Late Voyage to Constantinople… (London, 1683) ![]() There is nothing can be beheld, nor conceiv’d more charming to the sight, than this approach to Constantinople. This is certainly that part of the Universe above all others, where the eye most deliciously feeds itself with a prospect every way delightful. 367pp and 296pp, illustrations, £245 each) Impressions of Istanbul: Voyage to Constantinople. It was first published in The Book Collector, Summer 2021. The following review was written by Type & Forme’s Anke Timmermann. Impressions of Istanbul: Voyage to Constantinople Angus O’Neill, preface to The Ömer Koç Collection. For most of the 20th century it must have seemed impossible that another library could be formed comparable to that of Gennadios now, however, one begins to wonder. The most obvious comparisons will be with the Blackmer and Atabey collections, and there are many books here from those distinguished sources, but Mr Koç’s library now exceeds those in both breadth and depth.
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