Book Board Chat

When Authors Really Wrote Their Own Books

The Ottoman Empire dates from 1299 to 1923. It controlled territory in Southeastern Europe, Asia and North Africa with the capital being in Constantinople. Books were important in those Ottoman times with any man who could read and write having more opportunities ahead of him. There were no printing presses that could reproduce the Ottoman script until the 18th century: everything had to be done by hand. And even later clergy opposition and vast numbers of out of work scribes shut many printing presses down.

The Ottoman author showed off his erudition, his grasp of the language and literally his clarity of hand writing. The idea was to write and then present a book to someone high up in the government and hope for approval and perhaps for a monetary reward or even a job. If a book was thus approved, the person to whom it was presented might wish to have copies made to give to others or for his own library. Copies weren’t always exact as later material might be added to the original.

Paper originated in China, but it was the Ottomans who brought it west with them from Central Asia. Paper making is similar to the making of felt – soaking plant fibers in water; pounding them together and letting the page dry in the shade. The addition of Arabic gum would make the paper white while including henna in the process would turn the sheets the color of cinnamon red. Cotton was the choice of fibers.

Ink was handmade. Candle soot was used for black although occasionally red ink was made. The soot would be refined and then purified water added. Boiled pomegranate juice helped the ink flow. The sap from vine branches added a glossy look. The ink would then be put in an ink stand that had raw silk in it. This protected the nib of the reed pen and it kept the ink from spilling out if it was overturned. There’s a room above the main entrance gate to Suleymaniye Mosque in Istanbul, Turkey from which the soot of the fires used for winter heating would be collected. It was deemed especially efficacious.

Pens were made from sturdy reeds and each calligrapher had his own set of sizes and shapes. The reeds would be gathered and then buried for several years to harden. The end of the reed would then be cut at an angle. Even the slightest variation in the cut would mean that the pen could not be used for other types of calligraphy in a book. So the pen would have to be sharpened again during the course of writing. If the pen had been used to write the Koran, the shavings could not be thrown away. Such was the connection between the pen and the holy book of Islam.

Bookbinding became a craft at which the Ottomans excelled. These book covers were made of leather. From Central Asia through Iran and finally arriving in Turkey the development of bookbinding was particularly helped because of the high regard in which religious books were held. The binding helped preserve the bool. It not only covered the front, back and spine but also had an extra flap that wrapped over the exposed pages. The designs on the covers differed from place to place and were done by hand. Later molds were developed with which the leather could be stamped. Where and when the binding was made can still be determined today by the design.

Stolen from the Internet