Typographic Art in Turkey. 3G7 



A picture of very great merit, mixed with some defects. 

 The principal beauty of the work is the boatful of figures, 

 admirably coloured, and the water immediately around it, 

 which is painted with a freedom and transparency of the 

 most perfect kind. — Of the Narcissus and Echo by the same 

 artist, we cannot speak in terms of such high praise. The 

 parts are small ; and the whole, though well coloured, is 

 without that viiiour which has been the general character of 

 his works. — The best of his productions this year is the 

 drawing, No. 373, Edinburgh, from the Caltoun Hill- 

 Perhaps in richness, variety, and truth of colour, it may 

 justl)' be preferred to any thing he ever exhibited. 



On a future day, if we can find time and room, we shall 

 resume our critique. 



LX\'^. I/ifellige/ice ami Miscellaneous Articles. 



TVPOGKAPHIC A. IT IN TURKET. 



XX LETTER from Constantinople, dated the 27th of Febru- 

 ary, states that typography begins to make some progress 

 in that city. An edition of the Mussulman catechism, 

 forming an octavo volume of eighty-six pages, has just 

 come from the press : it was printed under the inspection of 

 Abdorahman-Efi'endi, director of the royal printing-office. 

 It appears in general that the situation of copyist, the 

 mrnibers of which are very numerous, will soon be as bad 

 at Constantinople as it must have been at Rome or at Paris 

 in the iiiteendi century : one of their most lucrative occu- 

 pations was a kind of almanac of the Ramazan, which 

 appear.s annually, with calculations, bv the astronomers of 

 tlie court, indicating for each day the hours of lasting and 

 prayer. The scrupulous exactness of good Mahometans, 

 in observing their I^ent, procured to the copyists the sale of 

 many thousands of these almanacs, which were rendered 

 more or less valuable according to their calligraphic merit, 

 and the number of ornaments with which they were em- 

 bellished. This branch of industry, however, has been 

 almost entirelv destroyed since the last year. An almanac 

 of the Ramazan has been printed at Scutari on Italian paper 

 which resembles parchment : it contains for eacli day the 

 hour and minute at which fasting ought to be begun; the 

 length of each night during whicli it is allowed to Mussul- 

 m-diii to give themselves up to the pleasures of sense; and, 



by 



