News of the Voyages

Mehmet Efendi (ca. 1522-1588)
Tarihi Hindi Garbî,
Istanbul: Müteferrika Press, 1730
African & Middle Eastern Division
Gift, 1903 (21)

Officials in the Ottoman Empire were intensely interested in the maritime exploratory expeditions sponsored by Spain and Portugal. In 1583, Mehmet Efendi produced a summary of these voyages entitled Kitab Iklimi Cedit (The Book of the New World). Ibrahim Müteferrika updated and republished the work in 1730. This rare volume is the first text about the Americas printed by Muslims and the first illustrated book printed in the Islamic world.