Examination of forty manuscript works preserved in Kayseri Raşit Efendi Manuscript Library in terms of decoration and artistic productions

Many manuscripts containing religious, literary, scientific, medical and political issues have been produced in the history of Turkish Culture. These works also involve the arts of calligraphy, binding and illumination. Libraries have a great role in appreciating these works and making them survive until today. One of those libraries is Kayseri Raşit Efendi Library, which was founded in Kayseri in 1796 by Mehmet Raşit Efendi, who gave great importance to books and who was the minister of Foreign Affairs of his time. The library hosts 2052 manuscrits currently. Forty of those manuscripts have been chosen as the subject of the thesis. thesis titled "Examination of Forty Manuscript Works Preserved in Kayseri Raşit Efendi Manuscript Library in Terms of Decoration and Artistic Productions" comprises six chapters. Theoretical framework, its purpose, importance and limitations are placed in the first chapter, which is the introductory part of the thesis. In the second chapter, the definition of bookbinding art, its history from the beginning until the present day and its divisions are mentioned. The definition of Turkish illumination art, its detailed history and the areas, where illumination art is applied, are mentioned. In the forth part, after a brief information about the library; the design of pages, the applied composition, colour preception, used motifs and techniques of these forty works in terms of bookbinding and illumination arts are examined and also analyzed. In the fifth chapter describing he method of the thesis, in what ways the studied manuscript works were analyzed is stated, information is given about the difficulties encountered during the study. In the sixth chapter, fifteen pieces of artistic work, which are in the frame of the thesis and their producing techniques are metioned. As for the last chapter, it consists of conclusion, recommendations and bibliography.