While the BIAA Library is best known for its unique archaeological collections, spanning both primary and secondary materials, did you know that it also maintains a growing collection of Ottoman and contemporary Turkish materials? Although most of this collection consists of secondary sources, we have recently acquired several archival items. Today’s post highlights the “Selah” collection of original, hand-drawn caricatures.
This unique collection was acquired from a local sahaf (rare book and ephemera dealer) who spent significant time piecing the collection together. It comprises 28 original caricatures depicting aspects of everyday life in the Beyoğlu (Pera) district of Istanbul during the early twentieth century. Many of the drawings are signed “Selah,” and several are dated 1918. The caricatures thus offer valuable insights into the social life, contemporary events, fashion, and material culture of early twentieth-century Istanbul.
The artist, Selah, remains unknown to us, though we are working on a couple of theories. Based on the period, we assume Selah was male, as the earliest known female caricaturist of the late Ottoman period is the renowned Sabiha Rüştü Bozcalı. Could Selah have been Greek or Armenian, belonging to communities with rich traditions of caricature and satire? Or might “Selah” have been the pseudonym of an already well-known caricaturist?
The caricatures primarily depict well-dressed individuals, suggesting that they belonged to the urban middle or upper-middle classes. Many also appear to have been involved in commerce or finance, such as banking or trade. Of the 28 caricatures in the collection, only two portray women. Although both women are elegantly dressed, they share one striking characteristic: their faces are left blank, with no features beyond their outlines.
Although we have acquired 28 of Selah’s caricatures, evidence suggests that additional works by the same artist survive. Each drawing had originally been mounted on either bluish or reddish paper and, it seems, bound together in an album. At some point, however, the album was disbanded, and the individual caricatures were dispersed and sold separately. We hope to locate and acquire more of these drawings in the future, allowing us to expand—and perhaps eventually reunite—this remarkable collection. If you have any questions, or theories, or wish to see the collection please be in touch with Sean. Come one, come all!
Büke, Okyar İlkim, 2023. Arabs in Turkish Political Cartoons, 1876-1950.
Brummett, Palmira Johnson, 2000. Image and imperialism in the Ottoman revolutionary press, 1908-1911.
Swanick, Sean, et al., 2018. Yasak/Banned: Political Cartoons from Late Ottoman Empire and Republican Turkey.
Türkmenoğlu, Turan M., 2023. Sahaflar Çarşısı’nda Görüp İşittiklerim.
Yusuf Franko, Koç Üniversitesi 2017: https://yusuffranko.ku.edu.tr/tr/sergi-hakkinda.