Socrates and Plato 1927 Ottoman Turkish Biography Booklet Turkey

İbrahim Alâeddin (Gövsa) ve Heyeti – Sokrat ve Eflatun (Socrates and Plato) – Resimli Gazete Neşriyatı / Sanayi-i Nefise Matbaası Edition (1927)

Description:

This is the 1927 Istanbul edition of Sokrat ve Eflatun (Socrates and Plato), published as part of the “Büyük Adamlar Serisi” (Great Figures Series), No: 12. Issued by Resimli Gazete and printed at Sanayi-i Nefise Matbaası, this work is part of a broader Ottoman Turkish series dedicated to influential figures in world history.

Prepared under the direction of İbrahim Alâeddin (Gövsa) and a scholarly committee, the book presents the lives and philosophical contributions of Socrates and Plato, two of the most foundational figures in Western philosophy. Socrates is portrayed as a thinker who emphasized ethical inquiry, dialogue, and the pursuit of truth through questioning, while Plato is highlighted as his student who systematized philosophical thought through written dialogues and the development of metaphysical ideas such as the Theory of Forms.

The text introduces their intellectual legacy and their lasting influence on philosophy, education, and political thought, emphasizing how their ideas shaped the foundations of Western intellectual tradition.

What makes this publication especially significant is its historical and linguistic context. It was printed just one year before the Turkish alphabet reform of 1928, during the early years of the Turkish Republic. As such, it is written in the Ottoman Turkish script, which uses a modified Arabic alphabet, rather than the Latin-based Turkish alphabet adopted after the reform.

As part of the “Büyük Adamlar Serisi,” the work reflects early Republican efforts to introduce global historical figures to Turkish readers while still operating within the Ottoman script tradition.

This edition is a valuable collectible, representing both a biographical-philosophical account of major historical thinkers and a transitional artifact from a pivotal moment in Turkish publishing history.

Key Features:

• Title: Sokrat ve Eflatun (Socrates and Plato)

• Series: Büyük Adamlar Serisi (No: 12)

• Prepared by: İbrahim Alâeddin (Gövsa) and scholarly committee

• Publisher: Resimli Gazete Neşriyatı

• Printer: Sanayi-i Nefise Matbaası (Istanbul)

• Date: 1927

• Language: Ottoman Turkish

• Format: Biographical / Philosophical Booklet

• Subject: Life and philosophy of Socrates and Plato

• Themes: Philosophy; Ethics; Knowledge; Western thought

• Historical Context: Pre-1928 Alphabet Reform; Early Turkish Republic

• Significance: Introduction of foundational Western philosophers to Ottoman Turkish readership

• Collector Appeal: Ottoman-script philosophical biography printed just before alphabet reform