Archives, Documents, and Manuscripts: Sources of Ottoman History

The seminar focuses on Ottoman-Turkish texts in various genres - political and moral treatises, histories, legal canons and court records, imperial decrees and fiscal documents, travelogues, private letters and novellas - gathered from archival sources, manuscripts and printed primary material from the 16th to 19th centuries. Students will be introduced to various paleographical and codicological skills. The seminar explores Ottoman-Turkish manuscripts in the Special Collections at Stanford Library. Knowledge of Turkish and Ottoman-Turkish is required.