E. J. W. Gibb | A History of Ottoman Poetry

Elias John Wilkinson Gibb (1857 - 1901) was a mostly self-taught scholar of Arabic, Persian, and, above all, of Ottoman Turkish. By 1911, the Orientalist Gibb had reached the following conclusion on the late Ottomans and their predecessors: “In all literary matters the Ottoman Turks have shown themselves a singularly uninventive
people, the two great schools, the old and the new, into which we may divide their literature, being closely modelled, the one after the classics of Persia, the other after those of modern Europe, and more especially of France” (in Holbrook 1994:19). (1)

The Gibb Memorial Trust is a charity, registered in England. It was founded a hundred years ago, in 1902, by the wife of a Glaswegian wine merchant, to commemorate the death at the age of 45 of her son Elias John Wilkinson Gibb. He devoted his life to researching the history, literature, philosophy and religion of the Turks, Persians and Arabs. His particular interest was the poetry of Ottoman Turkey, which was published, mostly posthumously, in the six-volume History of Ottoman Poetry. This has been reprinted several times and is available from the Trust

(1) See Holbrook (1994:18-19,23-30) for a critical look at Gibb’s scholarship and his reception in Turkey. For
21st century echoes of Gibb’s essentalism see John Updike’s review (The New Yorker, 3 September 2001)

Mavi Boncuk |


 

A History of Ottoman Poetry: Six Volume Set
by E. J. W. Gibb, edited by Edward G. Browne

The History of Ottoman Poetry is the most important fruit of E.J.W. Gibb's long devotion to Turkish literature. Only one volume had appeared in print by the time of his early death in 1901 but the remainder was almost complete and was seen through the press by E.G. Browne. It was designed to give the English reader a clear account of the subject. The first volume includes discussions of themes, verse forms and rhetoric and also of the earliest West-Turkish poetry up to 1450. The story is then carried through to the revolution caused by the adoption of European models in the later 19th century. Gibb was concerned to avoid a purely biographical approach and carefully analysed the works of the poets, tracing the development of style, which, before the Modern Movement, was to a great extent a matter of Persian influences and reaction to them. Only one volume of which was published in his own lifetime, with the remaining ones edited and seen through the press by his friend Edward G. Browne (q.v.).

No comparable English study has appeared since and the work is still valuable to students. 6 vols
Gibb Memorial Trust 1902, vols 2 & 6 reprinted 2002)

ISBN 0906094399. Hardback. Price US $335.00

E J W Gibb Memorial Trust
2 Penarth Place
Cambridge
CB3 9LU
United Kingdom

Tel: 01223 566630
Fax: 01223 511182
Registered Charity 228040

Books can be ordered through our distributors. They are:

Aris & Phillips Ltd/Oxbow Books, Park End Place, Oxford OX1 1HN, United Kingdom
E: oxbow@oxbowbooks.com
T: +44 (0)1865 241249
F: +44 (0)1865 794449
W: www.oxbowbooks.com
W: www.arisandphillips.com

David Brown Book Company, P O Box 511, Oakville, CT 06779, USA
E: david.brown.bk.co@snet.net
T: 1-800-791-9345 (Toll-free)
F: 1-860-945-9468
W: www.oxbowbooks.com