Micromegas in Ottoman Turkish. [Hikâye-i Feylesofiye-i Mikromega]. حكايه فيلسوفيه مكرومغا

av VOLTAIRE.

Häftad bok.

Gott skick. [Istanbul, after 1871]. 12mo. 32 pp. Modern marbled wrappers. old annotations on the first blank, light staining, a few tears in margins with very minor loss, once touching typographical border but with no loss of text. The story of Micromegas in an early example of Science Fiction, combining the fantastic story of two extraterrestial giants visiting Earth with discussions on the latest discoveries and ideas in science and philosophy. In a prelude, one of the giants from the planet system orbiting Sirius is tried for heresy. It turns out his country is ruled by an ignorant mufti, a way for Voltaire to freely critizise the rulers of Europe by placing them in a pseudo muslim context.
When the giants arrive on Earth they lament about its ridicoluos shape, being flattend at the poles. At first they believe that the earth is uninhabited because all forms of life are to small to see, but they finally observe a small vessel in the Baltic sea. It turns out to be the vessel that carries Maupertuis and the other scientists from the French Geodesic Mission to Lapland in 1736-1737, thus introducing the Science of the day right at the start of the novella.
Even though Istanbul was the place where Voltaire’s Candide finally found a place to rest and cultivate his garden, it took some 100 years for the works of Voltaire to be translated and become a part of the Ottoman intellectual world. In the second half of the 19th century, Voltaire was discussed and translated by the likes of Munif Pasha, Ahmet Midhat Efendi, Besir Fuad and not least Ahmed Vefik Pasha (1823-1891), who made this translation of “Micromégas, histoire philosophique”. The translation was first published in 1871, in parts, in seven issues of the magazine “Diyojen” and soon after as a pamphlet.
Ahmed Vefik Pasha (1821-1891) was an Ottoman scholar, diplomat, politician, author and translator who was in 1877 elected the president of the first Ottoman parliament.