Said Aljoumani, Guy Burak, and Konrad Hirschler, eds. The Library of Aḥmad Pasha al-Jazzār: Book Culture in Late Ottoman Palestine, Leiden: Brill, 2025. xiii+480.

Year 2025, Volume: 1 Issue: 1, 367 - 372, 29.09.2025

İsa Uğurlu

Abstract

This review evaluates the recently published volume on Aḥmad Pasha al-Jazzār’s library, commending its innovative methodologies and its contribution to extending Ottoman library studies beyond the imperial center. At the same time, it highlights the volume’s limited engagement with archival documentation and its omission of the devastating impact of the sieges of Acre, both of which are crucial for understanding the library’s dissolution. Overall, the review situates the work as an important but preliminary step in reconstructing provincial Ottoman book culture.

Keywords

Ottoman libraries , al-Jazzār , Acre , book culture , provincial collections

References

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