15 VE 16. YÜZYILLARDA AVRUPA’DA BASILAN ARAP HARFLİ KİTAPLARDA GÖRSEL UNSURLAR

The invention of the printing press in mid-fifteenth-century Europe marked a profound transformation in the history of written communication and intellectual culture. With the shift from manuscript to print, the mechanical reproduction of texts began to replace the laborious process of hand-copying, making books more widely available than ever before. This development, situated within what historians term Early Modern Europe, gave rise to the first printed books known as incunabula -from the Latin for “cradle”- a term that metaphorically captures the formative stage of European print culture. During this period, the number of books produced grew exponentially, granting broader access to written knowledge and reshaping education, scholarship, and cultural exchange. The humanist movement, which emphasized the revival of classical learning and linguistic diversity, further accelerated the production of texts in various European and Eastern languages. While Latin remained the primary language of scholarship, European printers, motivated by economic interests, religious ambitions, and intellectual curiosity, also turned to the printing of books in Oriental languages. Among these, Arabic and Ottoman Turkish held particular significance for both missionary and academic purposes. However, printing in Arabic script posed major technical and aesthetic challenges. The cursive and context-sensitive nature of the script required specially designed types, complex ligatures, and expert craftsmanship, often resulting in high production costs and limited output. Despite these obstacles, several presses in cities such as Rome, Venice, and Medici Press in Florence undertook experiments in Arabic-script printing during the sixteenth century. This study examines early printed books produced in Arabic and Ottoman Turkish from the invention of the printing press until the end of the sixteenth century. It first introduces the main catalogues and bibliographic databases that document early European prints, providing a framework for understanding the historical and material conditions of early printing. The article then focuses on the emergence of Arabic-script printing in Europe, outlining its technological limitations, the typographic innovations developed to address them, and the cultural contexts in which these publications were produced. The central concern of the research is the use of visual elements in Arabic-script printed works during this early period. The study aims to shed light on the forms and functions of these images within the broader context of print culture. Based on archival and bibliographical analysis, twenty Arabic-script books have been identified as having been printed in Europe before 1600, six of which contain visual components. These include illustrations, front-page ornamentations, chapter-head decorations, and rubrication—the embellishment of initial letters with color or ornament. Each category is examined in terms of its thematic content, technical execution, stylistic lineage, and intended communicative or decorative purpose. The findings suggest that the visual vocabulary of these early Arabic-script prints reflects a transitional phase between manuscript illumination and typographic design. The persistence of manuscript aesthetics within the printed medium demonstrates the slow and negotiated adaptation of Eastern calligraphic and decorative traditions to the mechanical logic of Western printing. By analyzing these hybrid forms, the study contributes to understanding the visual and cultural dimensions of early Arabic-script printing in Europe and highlights the broader intersections between Islamic and European art traditions during the Early Modern period.