[MIDDLE EAST / CALLIGRAPHY / DAMASCUS IMPRINT] Sülüs yazisi rehberi. [i.e. Guide to the thuluth script]. Copied by Seyyid Mehmed Mecdî (?-1908). Published by Mustafa Necatüddin el Erzurumî. Hardcover - 1945

Dimashq (Damascus - Sam): Matbaat Al-Nasr., [After 1945], 1945. Hardcover. Very Good. 8vo - over 7¾ - 9¾" tall. Original orange wrappers. Foolscap 8vo. (18 x 12 cm). In Ottoman script (Old Turkish with Arabic letters). 42 p. The Latin transcription of the title is written in pen on the front cover. Otherwise a very good copy. This book is in form of a manuscript. Text is in borders and calligraphic Arabic letters are shown with their measurements in the margins. Extremely rare reprint in Damascus, of this 17th-century Ottoman guide to the calligraphic art of the Thuluth script, written by the famous Turkish calligrapher Tokadi, who wrote a Mushaf (Glorious Quran) under the patronage of Sultan Murad before the Baghdad Campaign (1623-1639), in exchange for 1000 gold. (Çetin). Seyyid Mehmed Mecdi Efendi, who is shown as the author in the book is mistakenly attributed as the author of the book, is originally a copyist (müstensih). He was one of the dervishes and calligraphers in the Galata Mevlevihane of Constantinople and copied this book in the middle of the 19th century (Çetin). This early reprint includes principles, techniques, and art of the Islamic Thuluth calligraphic art. Thuluth is a script variety of Islamic calligraphy. The straight angular forms of Kufic were replaced in the new script by curved and oblique lines. In Thuluth, one-third of each letter slopes, from which the name (meaning "a third" in Arabic) comes. An alternative theory to the meaning is that the smallest width of the letter is one-third of the widest part. It is an elegant, cursive script, used in medieval times on mosque decorations. Various calligraphic styles evolved from Thuluth through slight changes in form. The greatest contributions to the evolution of the Thuluth script occurred in the Ottoman Empire in three successive steps that Ottoman art historians call "calligraphical revolutions": The first revolution occurred in the 15th century and was initiated by the master calligrapher Sheikh Hamdullah.; The second revolution resulted from the work of the Ottoman calligrapher Hâfiz Osman in the 17th century.; Finally, in the late 19th century, Mehmed Sevkî Efendi gave the script the distinctive shape it has today. The best-known artist to write the Thuluth script at its zenith is said to be Mustafa Râkim Efendi (1757-1826), a painter who set a standard in Ottoman calligraphy which many believe has not been surpassed to this day. Thuluth was used to write the headings of surahs and Qur'anic chapters. Some of the oldest copies of the Qur'an were written in Thuluth. Later copies were written in a combination of Thuluth and either Naskh or Muhaqqaq. After the 15th century, Naskh came to be used exclusively. The script is used in the Flag of Saudi Arabia where its text, Shahada al-Tawhid, is written in Thuluth. Mustafa Necatüddin el Erzurumî (1912-1991), was the publisher of this book. He was born in Erzurum (Erzeron) and was a scholar and calligrapher. After completing his madrasa education in Erzurum (Erzeron), he went to Istanbul and went on his first Hijaz journey in 1947. Passing to Hejaz via Latakia Port, Erzurumi settled in Mecca in 1948 and went to Hajj in 1948. He taught Hanafi fiqh, Arabic, and Calligraphy at the Felah Madrasa from 1951 in Medina. Not in OCLC.; Not in Özege.