LE SYMPOSIUM INTERNATIONAL LE LIVRE. LA ROUMANIE. L ...

The Place of Dimitri Kantemiroglu... 73
concern for using an artistic, arduous language, especially common among
literary works, is not intense. As a matter of fact, it could be claimed that,
with respect to its period, a relatively plain and explicit language and style
dominate the work.
It is stated in the historical sources that the Edvar was presented to
the ottoman Sultan. right after the sections enclosing the praise to God
and salute to the prophet, named in classical works of Islam as hamdele
(praise to God) and salvele (praise to the prophet), there comes the section
of compliments to the Sultan of the time. It is observed that these sections
do not exist in the Edvar and that it directly addresses the subject. the fact
that the work has been produced by a non-Muslim author may explain the
exclusion of hamdele, salvele sections (tura, 2001), but it is interesting
that there exists no section praising the Sultan.
It is seen that on the first page of the book, the cover of which is 130
x 185 mm and which consists of 170 leaves (tura 2001), Kitābu ‘ilmi’lmūsikī
‘alā vechi’l hurūfāt, i.e., the name of the book in Arabic, is written
in capital letters. right below it is the title of the first section, in persian,
Isâret-i Perdehâ-yi Mûsikî. the persian phrase Bâb-ı Evvel, which comes
right after the title, indicates that the first section has started. Kantemir uses
the term ilm-i hurûf-ı mûsikî for ‘musical notation’.
Writing
In the sources, it is argued that Edvar was personally written by
Kantemiroglu, that he is the authentic author (hatt-ı müellif in ottoman
turkish). It is obvious that the writing with Arabic letters used in the
book is not a product of something acquired later in life. that is to say,
although it is not a prominent example of calligraphy, the writing does not
demonstrate lack of proficiency. Arabic writing has special writing styles,
changing according to countries and periods. Kantemiroglu’s handwriting
is a typical example of traditional ottoman handwriting.
the page layout, too, is in line with the ottoman traditions and
standards. to illustrate, the words located in the bottom left corner on each
page signal the first word of the next page. As such, the mixing up of pages
is prevented. In like manner, notes on the titles of subsections and the like
are indicated in the margins. It is observed that section titles are written in
bolder and larger types, that pages consist of 23 lines on the average, and
that the text is written in a frame. At the end of the 5 th line of the 5 th page,
va is written instead of varub, and it is seen that, in order to compensate for
this error, the –rub, later added to the left-hand side, outside the margin,