Description

Leyla Hanım (died 1847) was an Ottoman female poet, known for her good education and extreme talent. Her uncle was a famous author of divans Keçecizade İzzet Molla (1786 – 1829). The author of our divan should not be confused with Leyla Hanım (Saz), who lived from 1850 to 1936 and was one of the last female authors of divans in the Ottoman Empire.

This is an especially handsome version of a rare early lithographed edition, accompanied with hand-coloured details on two title pages and gilt lined between the text, giving the book an impression of a manuscript.

The first printed edition of this divan was published in 1844 by the Bulaq press in Egypt. Our edition is not dated, but the text is identical to the 1850 (1267) edition, lithographed in Istanbul by Takvimhane-i Âmire Matbaası. Although the headers in differ, both versions were probably made by the same press at the approximately same time.

References: ÖZEGE; 4177. Cf.: Fatma Aliyye, Ünlü Müslüman Kadınlar, 2011, p. 138; Yahya Erdem, Türk Taş Baskıcılığı Başlangıç Yılları ve İlk Kitaplar, 2023, pp. 156.