[TULIPS] [Ottoman Turkish:] Tulip Calendar.

a very rare seasonal calendar for the planting of tulips, the national flower of Turkey, by a named author, seemingly a personal gardener under, and to, sultan selim iii.

A very rare planting calendar for the wonderful, much sought after tulip, written during the reign of the enlightened Sultan Selim III (1761-1808), known for his reform-mindedness, his associations outside the boundaries of the Ottoman Empire, and his endeavours to modernize and reform his state.  Fond of literature and poetry, Selim was a great lover of music and one of the best composers in the Ottoman classical music tradition. 

The 26-page calendar lists the varieties of tulips in red, and their colours, qualities, sizes, etc., in black ink, and by alphabetical order.  This manuscript gives rare testimony of the appreciation of this particular flower in its place of origin around the end of the eighteenth century.

Provenance: line 9 of the second leaf verso provides the name of ‘Mohammad Eshqi’ or ‘Ashqi’ (here ‘shqi’) as that of the gardener, followed by a statement on line 4 of leaf 3 recto that the calendar was written or compiled during the reign of Sultan Selim III, the son of Mustafa III.  Judging by the little library shelf mark pasted onto the rear board of the binding, the little manuscript appears to have eventually became part of a European collection in the 19^th-century.