Sultan Abdülhamid II's family album garners attention

Published by Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality's Kültür A.Ş., a book titled "Sultan II. Abdülhamid'in Aile Albümü" (The Family Album of Sultan Abdülhamid II" continues to draw attention on the 98th anniversary of the sultan's death. With photographs from the Yıldız Archive covering the life of Sultan Abdülhamid II and including the daily lives of the sultan's family within Yıldız Palace, the book brings a different perspective to the palace and life within.

The photos of the family of Sultan Abdülhamid II start with sections from Yıldız Palace and continue with the photos of princes and sultans. The book also includes the special photos of the princes and sultans from the family trees of Sultan Abdülaziz and Sultan Abdülmecid, as well as Sultan Abdülhamid II. This demonstrates that Sultan Abdülhamid II loved the children of his uncle Sultan Abdülaziz, who was dethroned and executed, as much as his own. As a dynastic tradition, the first photos of the album belong to the princes followed by sultans. The book also contains two albums consisting of the photos of the sultans before Sultan Abdülhamid II, including important details such as their birthdays and accession dates. The book ends with the information about the photographers, Abdullah (Freres) Brothers and Vasilaki (Basile) Kargopoulo, who were allowed to enter the Harem.

The book consists of photos unearthed by Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality's Kültür A.Ş. for the first time and includes articles by Sultan Abdülhamid II's elder son Mehmet Selim's grandson Abdülkerim Osmanoğlu titled "Büyük Dedem Sultan II. Abdülhamid"(My Great Grandfather Sultan Abdülhamid II) and by Professor Nurhan Atasoy titled "Görsel Tarihin Tapusu" (Deed of Visual History.) In her article, Professor Atasoy depicts her first encounter with Yıldız Photos, and her studies, works and devotion related to the collection of photos, which took years to complete.