I opened the first one. What had I got myself into? The first letter, by<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
Th\u00e9odore de St\u00fcrmer, professor and superior military doctor, adviser to the college of His Majesty the Emperor of Russia, rank of colonel, commander of the crosses of Sainte-Anne of the 2nd class, of Saint Stanislas of the 2nd class, of the Order of Merit of Philip the Magnanimous of the Grand Duchy of Hesse, knight of Saint Vladimir of the 4th class of the decoration Pro Virtute Militari, of the Red Eagle in Prussia of the 3rd class, of the Polar Star in Sweden and Norway, the Danish Order of the Dannebrog, recipient of the mark of distinction of fifteen years, of the Medal For the Taking of Warsaw, and of the great gold medals of Austria, Holland, Saxony and Bavaria[2]<\/a><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n was nearly illegible. And after that, every letter presented a different challenge. Some were written in the kind of cursive that would make a modern calligrapher weep with envy \u2013 and, at times, frustration. I found myself zooming in, then zooming even closer (fortunately, the scans were of superior quality) and summoning every ounce of patience to make out scribbles worse than a doctor\u2019s script. When defeated, I turned to Google, trying variations of a name or place or the name of a medal, placing the approximate spelling of an author\u2019s name along with his book\u2019s deciphered title. This detective work was both thrilling and time-consuming, not only because some cases were tough to solve, but mostly because I invariably got caught up in the author\u2019s life story. How had these people managed to squeeze so much into a single life? They were well-travelled, they had participated in revolutions, in wars, they had written books, been married, had children, they were suddenly to be found serving the Ottoman Empire in an official position and then again writing books that sometimes had nothing to do with their occupations. So many polymaths, looking for fame, money, knowledge, adventure or stability. When I found online a book for which an author had solicited funds, or had mentioned wanting to dedicate to the Sultan, I felt a warm rush of connection. I thought, \u2018So you really did write it. His Highness really did condescend to accept the dedication of your work!\u2019 It was as if I had spent time with a time traveller who had told me about his aspirations, then had gone back to his own time, leaving me to look for traces of what had happened to him afterwards. I was even more proud of my author when I saw that his books were still in print, nearly two centuries later.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n I immediately realised that translating directly from the manuscripts was impossible. My puny brain couldn\u2019t simultaneously decipher the handwriting and<\/em> translate. I adopted a three-step approach: first, I dictated\/transcribed the entire file into French, putting in XXX when I couldn\u2019t read a word. Second, I lost myself in rabbit-holes as I conducted research trying to fill in the XXXs. Then I steeled myself for the translation process.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n The formatting of these letters was peculiar, by 21st<\/sup> century standards (wait \u2013 we no longer have standards for handwritten letters, because we don\u2019t write any!). Most authors left a wide margin on the left side, and some crammed all the letters towards the right side of the page, sometimes even continuing downwards, instead of hyphenating. When they did hyphenate, they didn\u2019t do so by syllables, just randomly. ‘f’ was often used instead of ‘s’, and words like Ambassade would appear as ‘Ambafsade’ or ‘Ambaffade’. To avoid starting a new word at the end of a line, some writers drew a long (sometimes decorative) line to fill the space. They all ended with the same formula: \u201cJ’ai l’honneur d’\u00eatre avec un profond respect, Monseigneur, de votre altesse, le tr\u00e8s humble et tr\u00e8s ob\u00e9issant serviteur\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Some letters appeared hastily written \u2013 I could almost hear the pen scratching across the delicate paper. Others seemed to have been carefully crafted for hours. For emphasis, some writers would boldly retrace certain words, use larger lettering, or underline phrases, occasionally several times. The dates, addresses and signatures were typically found at the end of the letters. The recipient\u2019s name and title were written at the top, like an ornate header.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n The contents of the books mentioned in the letters were incredibly diverse: treatises on gemstones, manuals on horseback riding, guides to sword fighting, detailed histories of Montenegro, Abyssinia, China and Cyprus; \u201celectricity in medicine\u201d, wastewater management, vaccination, how to improve the Empire\u2019s finances, a request for information on every facet of the Empire which served to produce an extremely detailed book which remains an important reference still today.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n The flattery and the bureaucracy were wonderfully fun to translate. Some made me think of the series Yes Minister<\/em>:<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Monseigneur,<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n J’ai eu l’honneur de recevoir la d\u00e9p\u00eache que Votre Altesse a bien voulu m’adresser en date du 7 de ce mois pour me transmettre les ordres de Sa Majest\u00e9 Imp\u00e9riale notre auguste souverain d’exprimer \u00e0 monsieur le ministre des Affaires \u00e9trang\u00e8res de Sa Majest\u00e9 Sarde la haute satisfaction de Sa Majest\u00e9 pour l’offre que le gouvernement royal de Sardaigne a fait au gouvernement imp\u00e9rial de deux exemplaires de la statistique criminelle des \u00c9tats Sardes pendant l’ann\u00e9e 1853.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Je me suis empress\u00e9 de m’acquitter des ordres que me transmettait Votre Altesse et d’exprimer \u00e0 Monsieur de Cavour, tant par \u00e9crit que de vive voix, les sentiments de Sa Majest\u00e9 Imp\u00e9riale \u00e0 cette occasion.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n J’ai l’honneur d’\u00eatre avec un profond respect, Monseigneur, de votre altesse, le tr\u00e8s humble et tr\u00e8s ob\u00e9issant serviteur,<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Rustem[3]<\/a><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Or:<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Majesty, to whom belong excellence and magnificence, Majesty whom everywhere one hails for his good deeds, exalts for his merits, Protective Majesty, honoured and blessed, Civilising and regenerating Monarch,<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n May I lay at your feet a poem in your honour, in your praise, recently published by me in French verse, and translated into Turkish prose by a high official of your Sublime Porte?<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n [\u2026two pages more of sycophancy\u2026]<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n God grant, Majesty, that radiant days descend upon your head in as great numbers as He sows golden stars in your most beautiful summer nights! May God allow streams of joy to flow over your heart, no less innumerable than the ripe dates he causes to fall from a forest of palm trees! May the Most High eternalise your reign for the happiness and glory of the East, for the sweet peace of the West! May your name and your memory live in the pages of historians and on the sheets of poets as long as literate fingers marry syllables and the bird sings on the branches!<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n I withdraw, Majesty. I leave it to those of your ministers who put the lips of Europe on the lips of Turkey, I leave it to the great writer, to the great statesman who reads as deeply into the dawn of the future as into the evening of the past, the benevolent task of presenting directly my humble and sympathetic offering to Your Majesty. I am but a stream, carried by the river to the sea.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n I respectfully kiss from afar, Majesty — too far, to my great regret, your loyal hands which have always extended friendship towards France. I kiss those august hands which, as I stated in my Ode, hold the torch of progress with the same vigour as the sword of combat. I kiss those powerful and generous hands which know so skilfully how to direct the reins of a great empire and distribute to all justice, good grace and munificence.[4]<\/a><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n It was pure joy to translate that one!<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n As you can see, the letters didn\u2019t ask only for permission to dedicate a book to the Sultan or his ministers. Some authors only wanted to present a book to the Sultan so it could take its place on the Royal Shelves. There were those who asked for financial support to continue research or undertake travels for scholarly purposes. A few asked for an official position. One or two were hell-bent on collecting medals. Some others seemed to sincerely want to aid the Empire in improving its finances or water system, or to help it to have a better image in Europe, to propagate news of the reforms undertaken by Sultan Abdulmejid, to fight against misinformation being spread by foreign forces (the owner of the French-language newspaper in Smyrna, Anthony Edwards wrote, in one of the most interesting letters of all, \u201cI believe I have done some good, straightened out some erroneous opinions. And the time has come for Turkey to act also through the press, to work on public opinion, to unmask, by this powerful means, the plots that are being woven against her, to communicate to all propagandists that a vigilant eye is closely monitoring their machinations.\u201d[5]<\/a>)<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n One of the letters I most enjoyed reading was that written by a former captain in the Polish army, and now an exiled writer in England, Henryk Count Krasi\u0144ski, whose whole letter consisted of a single, loud wail of complaint. He came from one of most illustrious families in all of Europe and was now in exile for having fought against the Russians in 1831. His greatest wish was to dedicate his book, The Cossacks of the Ukraine<\/em> to the Sultan:\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Avant de transmettre le livre en question au Sultan par le bateau \u00e0 vapeur, j\u2019ai ordonn\u00e9 plusieurs fois \u00e0 mon libraire de ne point imprimer la d\u00e9dicace au Sultan dans aucun autre exemplaire, outre celui qui lui \u00e9tait destin\u00e9, attendu qu\u2019il n\u2019\u00e9tait pas certain que Sa Sublime Hautesse voudrait me faire l\u2019honneur de l\u2019accepter. Apr\u00e8s avoir promis de respecter mes instructions, \u00e0 ma grande surprise, ce libraire a fait publier la d\u00e9dicace dans toutes les \u00e9ditions de mon livre sur les Cosaques, avant m\u00eame que le Sultan e\u00fbt pu recevoir Son exemplaire. Il a g\u00e2t\u00e9 mon entreprise en agissant de la sorte (je ne pouvais pas le punir l\u00e9galement) et m’a fait encourir le d\u00e9plaisir que Sa Sublime Hautesse qui, me croyant capable de manquer de respect envers Sa Personne Sacr\u00e9e (pour un Polonais surtout, un crime ?), n\u2019a pas cru n\u00e9cessaire de me r\u00e9pondre. Il y a aussi d’autres choses tr\u00e8s extraordinaires \u00e0 mon \u00e9gard qui est eussent pu augmenter le mal. Il y a un autre Krasinski (Waleryan) qui habite l’Angleterre, beaucoup plus longtemps que moi, qui a plus d’argent que moi, qui est mieux connu dans l’aristocratie anglaise que moi, qui est aussi un auteur, mais qui n’appartient pas \u00e0 la haute famille de Korwin Slepowron Krasinski (\u00e0 laquelle j’appartiens) et dont le nom \u00e9tait imprim\u00e9 dans les journaux russes comme sous-chambellan de l’empereur de Russie. Il \u00e9crit en faveur du d\u00e9membrement de la Turquie (son cousin s\u2019est battu contre les Polonais). C\u2019est \u00e0 dire contre la Turquie, tandis que moi, j\u2019ai \u00e9crit, j\u2019\u00e9cris et j\u2019\u00e9crirai toujours en faveur de l\u2019int\u00e9grit\u00e9 de l\u2019empire Ottoman, comme absolument n\u00e9cessaire pour la paix, le bien-\u00eatre et la prosp\u00e9rit\u00e9 du monde entier, sans la moindre exag\u00e9ration, j\u2019ai donn\u00e9 plusieurs lectures \u00e0 cet \u00e9gard aussi, tandis que mon adversaire donne aussi des lectures pour dire le contraire. Dans plusieurs biblioth\u00e8ques, nos deux ouvrages, tout \u00e0 fait contraires l\u2019un \u00e0 l\u2019autre, se trouvent l\u2019un \u00e0 c\u00f4t\u00e9 de l\u2019autre. N\u00e9anmoins, on parait attacher beaucoup plus d\u2019importance \u00e0 mes ouvrages qu\u2019aux siens, il a fait publier un de ses ouvrages en anglais sp\u00e9cialement dirig\u00e9 contre l\u2019existence de l\u2019empire Ottoman dans le m\u00eame endroit et chez le m\u00eame libraire qui a publi\u00e9 mon autre ouvrage anglais: The Poles in the 17th century<\/em> (\u00e9galement favorable \u00e0 la Turquie) pour jeter de la poudre aux yeux et faire croire \u00e0 beaucoup de personnes ignorantes que ces \u00e9crits sont mes ouvrages. J\u2019ai d\u00e9j\u00e0 eu avec lui de violentes querelles dans les journaux o\u00f9 j\u2019avais le dessus. Nous nous ha\u00efssons mutuellement.[6]<\/a><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n He ends his letter proposing to launch a pro-Turkish journal distributed free to British MPs as a “counterweight to Russian attacks.” Boasting friendship with famed generals, he audaciously asks to become an Ottoman consul in England, offering to buy weapons for the Ottoman Empire. With hints of grandiose delusions, Krasinski pledges fervent loyalty if granted the Sultan’s “confidence.”<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n When I did some research into this poor Henryk Krasi\u0144ski, I found a bit of gossip about him in a letter from one Polish \u00e9migr\u00e9 to another \u2013 it\u2019s hilarious:<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Henryk Krasi\u0144ski is not alone in his misfortune; he is equally unhappy everywhere. Whether he strikes the chord of love, he encounters only thorns and obstacles; whether he strikes the chord of literature, he faces only disappointments and even prejudices. Nowhere does he find understanding. Krasi\u0144ski sees those less worthy as happy; he never finds himself among them. What a conspiracy of fate! [\u2026] However, he attributes his failure to spells. There is another Krasi\u0144ski here, Walerian Krasi\u0144ski. Henryk Krasi\u0144ski has great suspicion that Walerian Krasi\u0144ski, wherever he can, spoils his affairs, using the same surname and the same title, with a slight difference in their first names. Hence the source of his misfortune.[\u2026][7]<\/a><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n See what research vortexes I kept getting lost in?<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n There is also the heart-wrenching case of three Italians who had been languishing in a Turkish prison. They had no book to promote, they simply had<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n l’honneur d’exposer \u00e0 Son Altesse, que condamn\u00e9s pour sept ans, nous g\u00e9missons dans les prisons de l’Arsenal. Nous avons souffert en silence, sans bruit et sans scandale.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Dans ce moment, nous nous trouvons au fond de la prison, \u00e9clair\u00e9s seulement d’une petite lampe, trainant une longue cha\u00eene, couch\u00e9s sur la terre humide, passant les nuits enti\u00e8res sans dormir et n’ayant chaque jour que deux petits pains et de l’eau.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n La gr\u00e2ce que demandent les soussign\u00e9s \u00e0 Son Altesse, est celle de vouloir bien nous mettre au nombre des pardonn\u00e9s par Sa Majest\u00e9 le Sultan Abdul Medjid. Il ne manque que deux mois pour terminer les sept ann\u00e9es de notre condamnation.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Nos femmes et nos enfants plong\u00e9s dans la plus profonde mis\u00e8re depuis notre emprisonnement se joignent \u00e0 nous pour implorer la gr\u00e2ce de notre libert\u00e9. Ils nous aideront aussi \u00e0 vous t\u00e9moigner notre profonde reconnaissance en demandant \u00e0 Dieu, qu\u2019il daigne r\u00e9pandre sur vous ses b\u00e9n\u00e9dictions les plus abondantes et vous accorder la r\u00e9compense qu’il r\u00e9serve aux c\u0153urs compatissants.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Nous avons l’honneur d’\u00eatre, de Son Altesse, les tr\u00e8s humbles serviteurs,<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Giuseppe Franconli,<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Gavrili Luca,<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Giorgio Tirnovgli [?][8]<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Although I looked up all three names, I couldn\u2019t find anything about these unfortunate men. I suppose this letter got mixed up with the others by mistake, and although it made my heart ache, I was glad to have a thought for them. Why did they wait six years and ten months to write this plea?<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n —<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Going back to all these letters to write this article, my head is filled with hundreds of voices, murmuring, wailing, coaxing, boastful, hopeful voices, speaking with all types of different accents. This Assistant Professor brought them back to life, to demonstrate that intellectuals also make history (but not in circumstances of their own choosing) just as much as statesmen, not through wars and treaties, but through interpersonal relations and the sharing of books and knowledge. And we, the translators, play a big role in this \u2013 after all, who was translating all those letters for the Sultan? The significance of our role has always extended beyond mere translation; it involves bridging cultures and fostering mutual understanding. In every carefully translated word, we carry the weight of history, the nuances of context, and the essence of the original message.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n And here\u2019s a final tidbit of information \u2013 between 1852 and 1882, three of the Sultan\u2019s Grand Viziers embarked on their careers as dragomans[9]<\/a>, highlighting the importance of linguistic and diplomatic skills in Ottoman governance and foreign relations. This compels me to cry out: Translators and interpreters of the 21st<\/sup> century! Rise to the challenge of shaping diplomacy and politics! Look at what our forefathers were capable of!<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n With that, I have the honor to be, with deep respect, Dear Reader, your most humble and obedient servant.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Ba\u015fak Balkan<\/a> is a Turkish translator and interpreter. She works between Turkish, English and French and, when not travelling, lives in Belgium.<\/em><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n [1]<\/a> https:\/\/sharpweb.org\/linguafranca\/issue-5-2019-ottoman-print-culture\/<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n [2]<\/a> To the Embassy of the Sublime Porte in Vienna, dated 5 January 1845.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n [3]<\/a> R\u00fcstem Bey, the Ottoman diplomatic agent in Turin, to Ali Pasha, the minister of Ottoman foreign affairs, dated 22 October 1857.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n [4]<\/a> Edouard Gouin, Member of the Historical Institute of France, Ex-charg\u00e9 de mission of the Emperor, to Le Padischah Abd-ul Aziz Khan<\/em>, dated 20 September 1866.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n [5]<\/a> To His Excellency Ali Effendi, Minister of Foreign Affairs, dated 7 January 1848<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n [6]<\/a> Idem, dated 1 April 1851<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n [7]<\/a> Letter from Leonard Nied\u017awiecki to Eustachy Januszkiewicz dated 27 June 27 1839. http:\/\/www.historycy.org\/historia\/index.php\/t118137.html<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n [8]<\/a> Undated, addressed only to \u201cAltesse\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/iti-frenchnetwork.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/Letters_page1_image1-787x1024.jpg\")
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