Köprülü Library
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| Köprülü Library | |
|---|---|
| Köprülü Kütüphanesi | |
 | |
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| 41°00′29″N 28°58′21″E / 41.00813°N 28.97252°E | |
| Location | Istanbul,  Turkey |
| Established | 1678 |
| Collection | |
| Items collected | manuscripts |
| Size | 3,790 |
Köprülü Library is a library in Istanbul. It was founded by Ottoman Grand Vizier Köprülü Mehmed Pasha in 1678. It was the first public library in the Middle East.[1] The library currently contains 3,790 manuscript volumes.[2]
Located along Divanyolu Street, Pierre Loti Street and Boyacı Ahmed Street, across from the tomb of Sultan Mahmut II in the Eminönü district of Istanbul, the Köprülü library was built by Köprülü Fazıl Ahmed Pasha, the son of sadrazam (grand vizier) Köprülü Mehmet Pasha, on the last wish of his father. Köprülüzade Fazıl Mustafa Pasha completed the establishment of the library at Çemberlitaş with the composition of a vakıf (non-for-profit organization) charter in 1678.[3] The library was opened with its staff being composed of three librarians, one binder, and one janitor.
Collection
The first book was donated by the Köprülü family, and the number of available books continued to increase with further donations and purchases. Of all the donations to the library, those by Köprülü Mehmet Pasha, Fazil Ahmet Pasa, Haci (Hafiz) Ahmet Pasha, and Mehmet Asim Bey were among the most substantial. Its collection contains 3,790 manuscripts in Turkish, Arabic and Persian[2] as well as approximately 1,500 printed works. The catalogue of the Köprülü Library was prepared by Ramazan Şeşen, Cevat İzgi and Cemil Akpınar and was published in 1986.[2][4] Köprülü library houses one of the most important Islamic manuscript collections in the world.[2] The author, book, and subject lists of manuscripts and printed works are organized according to the Dewey Decimal Classification method.
