Abstract:

The letter emerged from satisfying the communication needs of people, and has developed and diversified in terms of form and content, with the evolution of intellectual and artistic life. Letters, which were initially intended to convey the purpose to the addressee in a simple, clear and concise language, have become a branch of art in time, which is convenient to display one’s skills. During the Ottoman period in particular, the letter was deemed one of the sub-branches of the science of construction, which discusses writing authentic, beautiful and literary letters. There were such journals written in a plain language to guide students who were new to the art of construction and inscription as well as those journals written in an ornamental language, allowing those who wished to master in writing to practice on it. Münşi, who found an opportunity to improve themselves by means of münşeat journals, wrote many letters expressing the same purpose in different ways in order to demonstrate that they had a good command of the rules of writing and an artistic power. The letter quickly became a field where the artists could display their skills, such as verse and ornate prose. Ishakzâde Mehmed Salih Zuhûrî's work called Mektûbât, which was written with a different content and an artistic style, sets an example of such letters. The letters of Zuhûrî, which were addressed to various persons and written in different contents, were brought together by Ebu İshakzâde Lutfullâhi who was the grandson of the poet so that the work called Mektûbât could be presented. Two known copies of the work are in the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris and in the National Library of Egypt. In this article, the Paris copy of Mektûbât, which will be prepared for publication by us, will be introduced. After the copy is introduced, the importance of the work, its form and content features will be mentioned. Finally, two letter samples from the work will be included.

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