For centuries following its reestablishment as Constantinople in AD 330, Istanbul served as the capital of three great empires: Roman, Byzantine, and Ottoman. The city's maze-like streets and high balconies, its steep alleys, flower gardens, and forested hillsides remain soaked in the vestiges of that imperial past, and it is to that past and to Istanbul's unearthly moods and waters that so many writers and diarists journeyed in search of escape, knowledge, happiness, or sheer wonderment. An Istanbul Anthology takes us on a nostalgic journey through the city with travelers' accounts of the sights, smells, and sounds of Istanbul's bazaars and coffeehouses, its grand palaces and gardens, crumbling buildings, and ancient churches and mosques, and the waters that so haunt and define it. With writers such as Gustave Flaubert, Pierre Loti, Ernest Hemingway, Mark Twain, and Andre Gide, we discover and rediscover the many delights of this great city of antiquity, meeting point of East and West, and gateway to peoples and civilizations.
Edited by:
Kaya Genç
Imprint: The American University in Cairo Press
Dimensions:
Height: 160mm,
Width: 120mm,
Spine: 18mm
Weight: 261g
ISBN: 9789774167218
ISBN 10: 977416721X
Pages: 160
Publication Date: 19 January 2015
Audience:
General/trade
,
ELT Advanced
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active
Introduction The Sea and the View The Proper Seat of the Empire of the Whole World, 1745 Giacomo Casanova The Mysterious Seal, 1843 Gerard de Nerval Mist Over the Golden Horn, 1922 Ernest Hemingway Entering the City, 1875 Edmondo de Amicis Veiled in Her “Ash-mack”, 1856 Herman Melville The First Impressions, 1903 Arthur Symons Turkey’s River Thames, 1852 Théophile Gautier The Caiq, 1915 Harrison Griswold Dwight The Bosphorus on Christmas-day, 1815 Lady Emilia Hornby The Princes’ Islands, 1893 Georgina Max Müller Feet in the Water, Like Venice, 1903 Arthur Symons Trees, Plants, and Gardens Cypresses of the Little Field of the Dead, 1903 Arthur Symons Gardens in Topkapı Palace, on Asia and Europe, 1716 Lady Mary Wortley Montagu Tulips in Grand Vezir’s Garden, 1726 Monsieur d’Andresel The Gardens of Stamboul, 1915 Harrison Griswold Dwight In the Belgrade Forest, 1716 Lady Mary Wortley Montagu A Picnic in the Forest, 1893 Georgina Max Müller A Bouquet of Flowers, 1875 Edmondo de Amicis Evergreens, 1856 Herman Melville Imperial Life and Its Pleasures Entrance to Imperial Sights, 1915 Harrison Griswold Dwight Description of the Sultan’s Glorious Chambers, 1699 Aaron Hill The Harem in Topkapı Palace, 1915 Harrison Griswold Dwight A Private Harem in Bebec, 1811 Lady Hester Stanhope Grand Signor’s Concubines at the Seraglio, 1599 Master Thomas Dallam Of the Apartments of Women and the Lodgings of Eunuchs, 1699 Aaron Hill Selamlik of Abdul Hamid, 1907 Arthur Conan Doyle The Cagaloglu Hamam, 1811 Lady Hester Stanhope Public Procession of the Sultan, 1841 Hans Christian Andersen Tcheragan Serai, 1852 Théophile Gautier Marble Mausoleum of the Sultan Mahmoud, 1867 Mark Twain The Dolma Bagtche Palace, 1907 Will Seymour Monroe City Walls, 1915 Harrison Griswold Dwight The Fortress of the Seven Towers, 1915 Harrison Griswold Dwight Hippodrome, 1852 Théophile Gautier The Palace of the Crown-Wearer, 1915 Harrison Griswold Dwight Two Palaces: Beylerbey and Cheragan, 1907 Will Seymour Monroe Cheragan Palace’s Silent Rooms of Splendour, 1875 Edmondo de Amicis The Small House at Yildiz, 1868 Clara Erskine Clement The Thousand and One Columns, 1867 Mark Twain The Sublime Porte, 1903 Arthur Symons Piety and Holy Places A Typical Istanbul Mosque, 1915 Harrison Griswold Dwight Hagia Sophia, the Church of Divine Wisdom, 1716 Lady Mary Wortley Montagu The Sweating Column, 1875 Edmondo de Amicis Night of Power in the Mosque of Sophia, 1907 Arthur Conan Doyle Churches of Constantinople, 1915 Harrison Griswold Dwight The Mosque of Eyub, 1907 Will Seymour Monroe Sultan Achmet and Sultan Bayezid Mosques, 1852 Théophile Gautier Süleymaniye and Yeni Valide Mosques, 1716 Lady Mary Wortley Montagu The Mosque of the Conqueror, 1907 Will Seymour Monroe A Masterpiece of Tile Decoration: Rustem Pasha Mosque, 1915 Harrison Griswold Dwight Dervish Lodge at Pera, 1843 Gerard de Nerval Whirling Dervishes, 1716 Lady Mary Wortley Montagu A Funeral in Istanbul, 1912 Grace Mary Ellison Streets, Festivities, and Commerce Sidewalks and Streets, 1922 Ernest Hemingway A Fierce and Active Struggle, 1903 Arthur Symons Perfect Labyrinth, 1856 Herman Melville Two Bridges, 1903, Arthur Symons Istanbul Beggars, 1867 Mark Twain The Bazaar, 1907 Will Seymour Monroe An Oriental Shop, 1852 Théophile Gautier The Balik-Bazaar and the Grand Bazaar, 1875 Edmondo de Amicis Smells of the Great Bazaar, 1867 Mark Twain The Real Rug Market, 1915 Harrison Griswold Dwight Missir Charshi and the Dried Fruit Bazaar, 1915 Harrison Griswold Dwight The Slave Market, 1867 Mark Twain Ramadan in Istanbul Scenes from Ramazan in Istanbul, 1852 Théophile Gautier Preparations for the Evening Meal, 1915 Harrison Griswold Dwight Bairam in Istanbul, 1843 Gerard de Nerval Karagueuz, 1876 Pierre Loti Kocheks and Mettaghs, 1915 Harrison Griswold Dwight Caffeine and Nicotine A Turkish Café, 1852 Théophile Gautier Served in the French Manner, 1843 Gerard de Nerval A Change in Manners, 1915 Harrison Griswold Dwight Women Smokers, 1852 Théophile Gautier A Greater Kick than Absinthe, 1922 Ernest Hemingway Tombeki, 1875 Edmondo de Amicis Clubs of Poorer Classes, 1915 Harrison Griswold Dwight The Exciter of Imagination, 1875 Edmondo de Amicis The Darker Parts of the City Pera’s Madmen, 1811 Lady Hester Stanhope The Business and Shipping Centre for the Europeans, 1907 Will Seymour Monroe First Moments in Pera, 1876 Pierre Loti Tower of Babel, 1716 Lady Mary Wortley Montagu Galata Tower, 1852 Théophile Gautier Mussulman But Like My Own Homeland, 1843 Gerard de Nerval Istanbul After Hours, 1922 Ernest Hemingway Istanbul Dogs, 1867 Mark Twain The Masters of the City, 1903 Arthur Symons A Fire, 1876 Pierre Loti Kief, 1875 Edmondo de Amicis A Turkish Bath, 1867 Mark Twain Around Galata Tower, 1852 Théophile Gautier Midnight in Pera, 1876 Pierre Loti Theatre in Pera, 1843 Gerard de Nerval The City as Hell Hating Constantinople, 1914 André Gide The End of Istanbul, 1850 Gustave Flaubert The Travelers Bibliography
Kaya Genc is a novelist and essayist from Istanbul. His writing has appeared in The Believer, The Guardian, The Financial Times, and New Humanist, and he is a contributing editor at Index on Censorship. He blogs at kayagenc.net.
Reviews for An Istanbul Anthology: Travel Writing Through the Centuries
"""For anyone who has lived in, or even visited, Istanbul, this anthology provokes a strange cocktail of emotions: a powerful shot of nostalgia for a city long gone, envy of those who walked its streets hundreds of years ago, and a kind of affectionate surprise at recognising aspects of urban life still present today. . . . Genc has curated a compellingly real picture of the city, taking care to match the poetic with the crass, the enthusiastic with the disapproving, and everything in between.""--LA Review of Books ""The book itself is like a letter from the past, beautifully bound, with cream-coloured pages and sepia sketches of old Constantinople scattered throughout like intermittent memories. The eclectic author list includes unexpected megastars of the 19th and 20th century like Gustave Flaubert, Arthur Conan Doyle, Ernest Hemingway, and Mark Twain. These are mixed with lesser-known writers with a more intimate knowledge of Istanbul, including several British women who lived and wrote there in the 18th to 20th centuries. These give us sneak glimpses into the feminine realms of the hamam and harem, as well as some of the most beautiful descriptions of mosques, city life, and the linguistic mosaic of a wealthy household's staff.""--LA Review of Books ""This is a very welcome pocket-sized collection of classic travel writing on Istanbul... It is a handsomely illustrated book made up of bite-size morsels from some of Istanbul's greatest travelers... a charming, modest volume that nicely fills a gap for those looking for a literary companion on a trip to the city.""--William Armstrong, Hurriyet Daily News ""As a chronicle and guidebook to all the likely and unlikely things that will give keyif in Istanbul, reading the anthology becomes a part of that joyful experience; both as a window unto the Istanbul of yore that still persists in pockets today, and a wide variety of authors we should revisit and/or discover.""--Nagihan Haliloglu, Daily Sabah """
