Milestone·Later empires
Ibrahim Muteferrika Opens Ottoman Printing Press
- Date
- 1727 CE1139 AH299 years ago
- Place
- Istanbul, Ottoman Empire
- People
- Ibrahim Muteferrika
The Ottoman government granted permission in 1727 for a press to print books in Istanbul. Ibrahim Muteferrika, a convert born in Hungary, set up the press with official support. It printed its first book in 1729, a Turkish dictionary called Vankulu Lugati. The press produced about two dozen works before it closed in 1742, and it did not print religious texts.
Why it matters
It was among the first movable-type presses used for Turkish and Arabic-script books in the Ottoman Empire.