KAT‹P ELEB‹ÕDEN D‹G‹TAL MATBAACILI⁄A
8
Cihannüma Kitab›’n›n öyküsü, okuryazarl›¤›n çok s›n›rl› oldu¤u bir dünyada bilginin
yay›lma h›z›na yetiflebilme öyküsüdür de denilebilir. Kâtip Çelebi 1654 y›l›nda
Cihannüma’y› yeniden yazmaya bafllar. Geçen alt› y›lda, okudu¤u kitaplardaki yeni
bilgileri kitab›na katmak ister. Din d›fl› pozitif bilgiler Kâtip Çelebi’yi çok etkiler. En çok
da
Gerardus Mercator
’un önce Atlas’›ndan sonra da Atlas Minör’ünden etkilenir.
Mehmet Ihlasî ad›n› alan Frans›z devflirmeye Latince’den Türkçe’ye çevirtir ve kitab›n›
bu yeni bilgilerle zenginlefltirir. Co¤rafya ve astronomi üzerine Bat›l› kaynaklardaki
bilgileri Cihannüma’da buluflturur (1654).
Masals› Öykü D evam EdiyorÉ
Kâtip Çelebi’nin elyazmas› Cihannüma’s›n›, saraya teslim edildikten sonra kimler
okudu, nas›l etkilendiler bilemiyoruz. Ancak sarayda iz b›rakm›fl olmal› ki 75 y›l sonra
bir kopyas› fieyhülislam Abdürrahim Efendi taraf›ndan Osmanl›’da saray›n izni ve
himayesi ile matbaay› ilk kuran ‹brahim Müteferrika’ya verilir.
‹brahim Müteferrika taraf›ndan Matbaa-› Amire’de bas›lan Kitab-› Cihannüma art›k tek
bafl›na Kâtip Çelebi’nin kitab› say›lamaz. Biraz da Müteferrika’n›n Cihannümas›’d›r.
Basmac› ‹brahim Efendi, nam-› di¤er Müteferrika 3 y›l süren kitab›n bas›m› süresince
Kâtip Çelebi’nin yazd›¤› kadar yeni sayfalar ve yeni bilgiler ekler. Öyle ki, kaynaklar
Müteferrika taraf›ndan bas›ld›¤›nda, numaraland›r›lm›fl 698 sayfal›k kitab›n 325
sayfas›n›n Müteferrika taraf›ndan eklendi¤ini yazmaktad›r. Müteferrika hem
matbaac›, hem naflir (yay›nc›)dir. Kâtip Çelebi’nin kitab›na, yaflad›¤› dönemde
bilmesi mümkün olmayan bilgileri de ekler… Zaten kitab›n bask›s›
tamamland›¤›nda, Müteferrika kendisine teslim edilen Cihannüma’n›n
el yazmas› kopyalar›n› kaybetmifltir… Gerardus Mercator’un kitab›ndan
kopyalad›¤› ve Osmanl›ca harfli yer isimleriyle levhalara nakflettirdi¤i
haritalarla Cihannüma’y› art›k yeni bir kitap olarak kabul etmek gerekir…
Haritalar›n GizemiÉ
Cihannüma Kitab›’nda 13 levha ve 27 adet harita bulunuyor. Mercator haritalar›
tafl›d›klar› özellikler nedeniyle ay›rt edilebiliyor. Ancak ‹stanbul, Anadolu, Kafkaslar ve
Do¤u’ya iliflkin öyle haritalar varki ya baflka kaynaklardan al›nm›fllar, ya da görece daha
az detayl› olanlar› ‹slam co¤rafyac›lar›nca yap›lm›fl olmal›...
Haritac›l›k ya da Bat›’daki ad›yla kartografyac›l›k, bilim gerektiren ayr› bir ifl. Oysa
çizilmifl bir haritay› matbaa için levha haline getirmek zanaatkarl›k ifli. O günün
teknolojisi ile oldukça zor ve meflakkatli bir ifllem.
Yeni yeni bafllayan ve Bat›’da büyük ilgi gören seyyah kitaplar›nda, gezdi¤i gördü¤ü
yerleri anlatan seyyah›n yaratt›¤› hayallerini bir sanatç› resmeder, bir zanaatkâr da bak›r
levha üzerine iflleyerek matbaa bas›m›n› sa¤lar. Thomas Allom’un, Antoine Ignace
Melling’in ‹stanbul’u ve Osmanl›’y› da anlatan gravürlü kitaplar› da
böyle meflakkatli yay›nlard›r.
Öykümüze dönecek olursak; Kitab-› Cihannüma’n›n haritalar›n›n yap›m› s›ras›nda
Ahmed El K›r›mî ve Galatal› M›g›rd›ç imzalar›ndan bahsediyor kaynaklar. Haritalar›n
bir köflesinde bu isimler yer al›yor. Bir de
Tophaneli ‹brahim
ismine rastlan›yor.
Araflt›rmac›lar bu sonuncusunun ‹brahim Müteferrika’n›n kendisi oldu¤unda
birlefliyorlar. Belki de kitab›n bask›s›n› h›zland›rmak istemiflti…
The story of Cihannuma can be considered as an effort to keep up with the speed that
knowledge spread around the world at a time when literacy was highly limited. Kâtip Çelebi
began to rewrite Cihannuma in 1654. During the next six years, he added to his books the
knowledge he gained from the books he read. Kâtip Çelebi was vastly influenced by non
religious positive knowledge, especially by the Atlas and later the Atlas Minor of
Gerardus
Mercator
. He had the book translated from Latin to Turkish by a French recruit and
enriched his own book with the new information. He brought together in Cihannuma the
knowledge of geography and astronomy existing in Western sources (1654).
The story
continues...
We do not know who read Kâtip Çelebi’s Cihannüma after the manuscript was presented to
the Palace or how they were influenced by it. It must have made an impression though,
because 75 years later a copy was handed to Ibrahim Müteferrika, the founder of the first
printing house in the country, by fieyhülislam Abdürrahim Efendi with the permission and
auspices of the Palace.
The book was printed by Ibrahim Müteferrika in the Imperial Printing House. It can no
longer be considered as Kâtip Çelebi’s Cihannüma – it also belongs to Müteferrika. Basmac›
‹brahim Efendi, known as Müteferrika added as many pages as the original and as much
information during the three years of its printing. Sources indicate that 325 pages of the
numbered 698 pages were added by Müteferrika. He was both a writer and a publisher.
He added to the book information that could never have been possible to obtain in the
era that Kâtip Çelebi lived in. When the printing was completed, Müteferrika had
already lost the manuscripts of Cihannüma that were handed to him. We have to
regard Cihannüma as a different book with place names in Ottoman Turkish he
had engraved onto Gerardus Mercator’s maps.
The My
stery
of the MapsÉ
Cihannüma has 13 charts and 27 maps. Mercator’s maps are distinguished by their distinct
properties. However, there are such maps which depict Istanbul, Anatolia, the Caucasus and
the Orient that have to have been borrowed from other sources and there are those with
relatively less detail that might have been prepared by Muslim geographers.
Map making or cartography requires scientific knowledge. On the other hand, having an
already drawn map engraved on a metal sheet for printing requires craftsmanship. It must
have been an arduous process given the techniques of the time. Travel books were a novelty at
the time and were regarded with interest in the West. The writers would talk about the places
they visited, and the images they created would be depicted by an artist while a craftsman
would engrave it on a copper sheet for printing. Books with engravings by Thomas Allom, and
Meling that describe Istanbul and Ottoman lifestyle are such arduous publications.
Back to our story… Sources cite Ahmed El K›r›mî and Galatal› M›g›rd›ç as mapmakers for
Cihannüma. Their names are placed on the maps. Another name that is mentioned is
Tophaneli Ibrahim
. Researchers agree on the fact that he is Ibrahim Müteferrika. Perhaps
he wished to hasten the printing of the book. Perhaps he enjoyed making this contribution to a
book he half owned.
There is one map in Cihannüma which definitely does not belong to Mercator. Nor is there
any information that it was originally charted by Müteferrika’s team. Historians state that
FROM KATIP CELEBI
to
DIGITAL PRINTING
