About Collection

Koç University Manuscripts Collection comprises a valuable source covering a variety of fields, including Turkish poetry, law, geography, astronomy, medicine, philosophy, logic, music, mathematics, chemistry and especially in terms of language and cultural history studies. Sufism, especially Anatolian / Ottoman Sufism (Bayrami, Melami and Mevlevi paths), Turkish literature, Islamic morality and ethics, Islamic law, Qur’anic works, fatwas, hadiths also constitute the main contents of the manuscripts.

The manuscripts in the collection have been written in different languages, particularly Turkish and Arabic, Persian, Karaman, Crimean Tatar, Crimean Turkish and bilingual (Persian-Arabic or Arabic-Turkish). Among these books, there are many works written by the authors themselves which can be considered as unique copies. Some of the manuscripts bear valuable contextual information on Anatolian Sufism and on the books, which they have reached through the family lines of their owners. Another characteristic group of materials is the works that are in the early Anatolian Turkish language and literature. Among the dated ones, the oldest manuscript in the collection is “Nazmü’l-Hilāfiyyāt [Manzumetü’n-Nesefiyye]” dates back to 1100 and as the latest dated manuscript, written in 1969, is İsmail Hakkı Bursalı’s “Şerhü’l-Usūli’l-Aşere” takes its place in the collection.

The collection acquired as donations mainly from scholars such as Fuat Bayramoğlu (1912-1996) who served as a diplomat and was poet and author; Şinasi Tekin (1933-2004) who was an acknowledged Turkish linguist professor and Turkologist; Josephine Powell (1919-2007) who was a photographer, traveller and expert on the nomads of Türkiye and their textiles, Mithat Sertoğlu (1991-1995) who served as a journalist and worked as a consultant at Prime Ministry General Directorate of State Archives, Salim Erel (1929-2014) who was Turkish politician and served as a mayor and the parliament member of the 17th term.)