AN EVLIYA ÇELEBI BIBLIOGRAPHY
Evliya Çelebi (1611 – c. 1685) was born in Istanbul, travelled the length and breadth of the Ottoman Empire as well as some neighboring
regions, and died in Egypt after writing his huge Seyahatname or “Book of Travels.” The original manuscript languished in Cairo until it was
brought to Istanbul in 1742, where it was copied and studied. The Austrian scholar and diplomat Joseph von Hammer hit upon a manuscript (part of K — see below under “Manuscripts, textual
problems”) as early as 1804 and began to publish excerpts and translations from it in 1814 (see Tezcan 2009c). Publication of the Ottoman Turkish text proceeded haphazardly between 1896 and 1938 (the “Istanbul imprint” — see below under “Editions and Turkish versions”). For most of the twentieth century this imperfect publication was the source of scholarship on the Seyahatname,including many translations into modern Turkish and other languages.
Only in recent years have there been attempts to publish critical editions of the work. Dankoff + Kreiser 1992 provides a guide to the contents of the Seyahatname and an annotated bibliography. The classic overview of Evliya’s life and writings is Baysun 1947. More up-to-date are İlgürel 1995, Dankoff 2002a, Kreiser 2005, Tezcan 2009b. In her “Foreword” to Dankoff 2004a (p. vii) Suraiya Faroqhi calls it “the first book-length biography of Evliya Çelebi;” but it is rather a survey and analysis of Evliya’s mentality or worldview. We do not yet have a biography that examines his life in detail and relates his career and his writings to the larger context of Ottoman history. Practically everything that we know about Evliya must be derived from the Seyahatname, since no other Ottoman source has yet turned up that mentions him. Only a list of the retinue in Kara Mehmed Pasha’s 1665 embassy, discovered in the Vienna court archive, includes
an “Evlia Efendi,” which must be Evliya Çelebi (published in Teply 1975; also in Kreutel 1957 2nd ed. 1987, 17).Recently Pinelopi Stathi turned up the draft of a Greek patriarchalletter, of uncertain date, recommending Evliya as “a man of honor, and peace. He has the desire and the inclination to be a traveler of the world, and describe places, cities and nations of men, having no harm in his heart to make injustice or hurt anyone” (Stathi 2005/2006, 267; Tezcan 2007b, 32; MacKay 2007). Also, five actual graffiti have been preserved. Four of these — two in Foça and one each in Küstendil and Adana — have been known for a long time (see Baysun 1955; Mijatev 1959; Wittek 1965; Kreutel 1971; Mujezinović 1957, 1981; Prokosch 1988-89; Bulut 1993). The fifth — in Karaman — has been reported by Mehmet Tütüncü, who also speculates on an inscription in Uyvar as preserved in a work by the Dutch traveler Jacob Tollius (Tütüncü 2009). Prokosch has photographs, hand-drawn copies, transcriptions and translations of
the well-known four; Dankoff 2004a, 149-50 compares these with the thirty or so graffiti that Evliya records in the Seyahatname. Tütüncü has the most complete survey. In addition, a map of the Nile in the Vatican library is probably Evliya’s; it was made known in Rossi 1949, but demands further study.
The Seyahatname has been often used and cited by researchers interested in this or that topic. The present bibliography aims to include all studies that focus on Evliya or make substantial use of Evliya, omitting many others that merely cite him en passant. A perennial problem for all researchers has been the reliability of Evliya’s information. Dankoff 2004a broaches the issue in a general way, especially in ch. 5 (for narrative) and ch. 6 (for description). Köhbach 1978 offers the very useful notion of “Beschreibungs-Topoi”
in trying to distinguish between cliché and reality. See also Wagner 1992. With regard to itineraries, Pierre MacKay has followed much of Evliya’s route through Greece, trying to determine which aspects are
sound and which are not (see MacKay 2009). Others who have traced Evliya’s itineraries, or tried to interpret them, are: Taeschner 1924-26 (Anatolia); Caferoğlu 1972 (Bulgaria); Kornrumpf 1981/82 (western Anatolia, Iraq); Beckingham 1993 (western Europe); Faroqhi 2004 (western Europe); Bulut 2004 (Iran); Kornrumpf 2004 (Upper Egypt); Finkel 2009. For “The Evliya Çelebi Way … an international project of historical re-enactment and cultural re-connection that will establish a Cultural Route through Western Anatolia” see: http://www.kent.ac.uk/english/evliya/index.html Another problem has been to trace Evliya’s sources. The major study (but confined to Book 1) is Meşkûre Eren 1960. Discrete studies include: Kopčan 1971 (Uyvar expedition), also 1976, 1981; Bayerle 1984 (Hungarian history); Dankoff 1986 (Armenian history); İsen 1988 (literary history); Vatin 2008 (battle of Szigetvár). A conference devoted to the sources of the Seyahatname is scheduled in Istanbul in May 2010. Manuscripts, textual problems Preliminary note: The manuscript of the Seyahatname originally consisted of ten books in five volumes (two books per volume). These ten “books” have traditionally been referred to as
“volumes”. In this bibliography the term “book” is maintained in accordance with Evliya’s plan.
Source:Robert Dankoff
