Ottoman Manuscript World Encyclopedia

Extraordinary privately assembled encyclopaedia, focused on Mecca as the Navel of the World. Written in manuscript in thin black and red pens in Ottoman language, it contains over 580 pages of manuscript in tiny characters, sometimes accompanied with charts, over 380 manuscript maps, made with extreme care in precision in colours and with gold and silver highlights, over 225 prints from magazines, books, atlases and other sources from the late 19th and early 20th centuries, often joined in collages and compositions with hand-drawn maps. The maps are made with a greatest precision in well planned configuration. The colours are carefully applied to give an instant effect of a modern data visualisation. The gilt highlights and small details in black ink express the author’s endless patience and dedication to the project. The manuscripts, maps and illustrations are tastefully and carefully joined together thematically in foldouts and pamphlets, bound together with linen or paper stripes or strings. Shorter subjects and uncut plates also appear as separate leaves. We could count 217 such separate units. The whole collection is housed in three charm

Date

1918

Place

Asia

Archive

Wikimedia Commons

Type

map

Original size

32,035 × 9,175 pixels

Need maps for a whole project? Add Find Any Map to Claude and ask for this one by its id: 239520.