University Of Leipzig, Germany B.Or. Poetry Magazine No. 265: Review - Text - Classification According To MESTAP

Abstract

Journals are small works composed of poems written by a single author in the same or different genres and forms. These works are significant because they encompass a wide variety of poets and poetic styles, revealing poems by poets who lacked or had not yet been published. Journals not only contribute to literary history through the poems they contain, but also provide insights into the literary taste of the time by reflecting the cultural, political, social, and historical characteristics of the period in which the poems were written. In this context, journals, which play a significant role in the field of Classical Turkish poetry, are being compiled on a single digital platform through the project known as MESTAP, thus systematizing the journals in tables. The journal we examined as part of this project is housed in the library of the University of Leipzig, Germany, catalog number B.Or. 265.
The manuscript under review compiles poetic works from diverse authors active between the 15th and 17th centuries. Hosting a total of 277 poems, the collection heavily emphasizes the literary output of 16th-century Divan poets. Structurally, the anthology encompasses a rich variety of verse forms from multiple figures, specifically distributed as 211 ghazals, 4 tahmis poems, 4 müseddes poems, 4 couplets (beyits), 2 terci-i bent poems, 12 kıt’as, and 33 müfreds (isolated couplets). Although the exact compilation date of the text remains unspecified, the work is preserved at the Leipzig University Library under shelf mark B.Or. 265. This study offers an exhaustive examination of its physical attributes, employing the methodological criteria dictated by MESTAP for its categorization and analytical phases.