@publicdomainrev This is amazing stuff. First, I’m amazed just as myself reading about 17th century speculators. I’m also amazed as a historian of the 17th and 18th century Middle East. I’m wondering what it must have been like for an #Armenian from the #Ottoman , Russian, or Iranian empires to come into contact with this incredibly rich intellectual world. It must have been so exciting for them!

@tillgrallert @dbellingradt @BiblioWingate @tntype Finally, Aram Ghoogasian would be a good person to ask: https://forms.international.ucla.edu/armenia/person/3104 .

@tillgrallert @dbellingradt @BiblioWingate @tntype And there is a book published by Bloomsbury, I think, by an author who publishes mostly in Turkish, about Arabic-script libraries between Edirne and Kayseri or something like that in the early modern period. There might be a clue there too, in the citations.

@tillgrallert @dbellingradt @BiblioWingate @tntype There are a lot of graduate theses in the YÖK database, I believe, about a particular Armenian bookseller (Arakel something?) who worked in Istanbul during the 1910s. They would probably come up if you were to search for the word “sahaf” in the abstracts. There could be something there.

@librarysquirrel Also, I have once contacted a journal to say, "I want to review this book. Are you interested in securing a copy for me and considering my review for publication?" They said yes.

@librarysquirrel I've found this useful: https://www.historians.org/perspectives-article/the-art-of-reviewing-february-2001/ . Also, here is the framework for a book review that I once received from a very experienced historian: ¶1, say the name of the book and explain its context. ¶2, summarize the book. ¶3, explain and celebrate the book's strengths. ¶4, explain, in mild terms, the book's shortcomings and/or what more can be done by future historians. ¶5, summarize and praise the author. I've used it myself about three times.