By Osman Koker and Orlando Carlo Calumeno

Armenians in Turkey 100 Years Ago: with Postcards from the Collection of Orlando Carlo Calumeno is a coffee table book that features photographs of 750 postcards sent between 1900 and 1914. Based on the historical data that they offer, this book illustrates the story of the Armenians who lived within the borders of modern-day Turkey at the beginning of the twentieth century.

The cities, towns, villages and districts that Armenians inhabited, their role in economic and social life in the Ottoman Empire, their churches, schools and monasteries along with the newspapers and periodicals that they published are all discussed at length in this in-depth study that, for the first time, draws on Armenian, Turkish and Western sources.

The 750 postcards, many with the handwriting of the senders, show Armenian districts, churches, monasteries, schools, orphanages and cemeteries. They show missionary schools and hospitals founded by Armenians, advertising for Armenian businesses in villages and towns across Anatolia and more generally reveal the living conditions of Armenians at the beginning of the twentieth century.

Detailed captions also accompany each postcard with information about the image and writing on the postcard, their senders and intended recipients and about Armenian life in the Ottoman vilayets or provinces from where they were sent.

The Orlando Carlo Calumeno Collection consists of postcards, envelopes, photographs, labels, business cards, advertisements, invoices, receipts, diplomas and books that illustrate the commercial and social harmony among the different peoples in Anatolia during the Ottoman period. The collection serves to remind us of the harmonious cultural mosaic that has been hidden from view in modern Turkey. This volume is a vital resource in reconstructing Ottoman Armenian life before 1915.

Translated from Turkish by Ahmet Fethi

Armenians in Turkey 100 Years Ago: With Postcards from the Collection of Orlando Carlo Calumeno
Osman Köker (editor)

English
400 pages
Hard Cover