This list focuses on literary periodicals in Ottoman Turkish. In the interest of providing as comprehensive a listing as possible, the criteria for inclusion is relatively simple. I have opted to list any periodical publication (defined below) produced in the Ottoman Turkish language, or in a multilingual format that includes Ottoman Turkish, that expressly describes itself as a “literary” (“edebi”). Distinction will not be made between those works published inside the Ottoman Empire or outside of it. On occasion, works that do not include an explicit statement about their content will be included in the list if they exhibit many of the characteristics of a literary journal, i.e. literary criticism; publication of original poetry or prose works of fiction; translations of foreign literary works. Below find the titles relevant to the Tanzimat period. Criteria for inclusion can be viewed here. Lists are also available for the Hamidian Period (1876-1908), the Second Constitutional Period (1908-1923) and The War of Independence and the Turkish Republic (1919-1928). The full list with all four periods included can be downloaded here. Credit goes to Michael Erdman and Hazine.
Dağarcık: bazı müntehabat-ı âsar ile fünûnun delâlet ettiği bir takım garaib-i keşfiyat ve hükema-yi mütekaddimin ve müteahhirin tarafından irâd edilen muhakemat-ı müfideyi ve bazı terâcim-i ahvali havidir
طغارجق: بعض منتحبات آشار ايله فنونك دلالت اتديكى بر طاقم غراءب كشفيات و حكماى متقدمين و متأخرين طرفندن ايراد ايديلان محاكمات مفيده يى و بعض تراجم احوالى حاويدر
Published by Ahmet Midhat in Istanbul at his own press.
Biweekly; 1288 [1872 or 1873] to 1289 [1873-1874].
Among the earliest Ottoman Turkish literary magazines, Dağarcık was edited by the well-known Ottoman intellectual Ahmet Midhat and featured frequent articles by Recaizade Mahmut Ekrem. In addition to pieces on literature and literary criticism, it also carried articles on science and philosophy, as well as translations of items from Western European languages.
Dolab: maarif ve edebiyata müteallık her güne mebahis ve letaifi şamil ve teracim-i ahval ile makalât-ı müfide ve mevadd-ı nafia’ya müştemil olacaktır
دولاب: معارف و ادبياته متعلق هر كونه مباحث و لطائفى شامل و تراجم احوال ايله مقالات مفيده و مواد نافعه مشتمل اولاجقدر
Edited by Alaaddin Tevfik and printed in Istanbul at Bakırcıbaşı Mehmet Efendizade Süleyman Efendi’nin Matbaası; Tasvîr-i Efkâr Matbaası; and Şeyh Yahya Efendi’nin Matbaası in Sultan Bayezid.
Biweekly?; 1290-1291 [1873-1874]; exact dates of publication not provided.
As a late-Tanzimat publication, Dolab reflected the literary and cultural developments of its time. Poetry was particularly well represented, with many contributors who were former members of the Encümen-i Şuara.
Kırk Ambar: Maarif edebiyat teracim-i ahval lataifden bahseder onbeş yirmi günde bir çıkar mecmuadır
قرق عنبر: معرف ادبيت تراحم أحوال لطايفدن بحث ادر اونبش يرمى كنده چقار مجموعەدر
Printed in Istanbul at the Şark Matbaası.
Variable (bi- or tri-weekly); 1290 [1873-74] – 1293 [1876-77].
An irregular periodical about Ottoman Turkish literature. It shares its name with a printing press that produced a fair number of late 19th-century Ottoman titles.
Mēchmaayě Havatis: Evropatē vē mahalě sayěrētē pir mah zarfěnta zuhur itiwp, ist’imaē shayan ōlan havatisat’ě miwt’ēnēviēyē. vē iwliwm vē funun, vē sēnaat’ vē shiir vē lēt’ayifē makhsus pir risalē tir
Մէճմաայը Հավատիս : Եվրոպատէ վէ մահալը սայըրէտէ պիր մահ զարֆընտա
զուհուր իտիւպ, իսթիմաէ շայան օլան հավատիսաթը միւթէնէվիէյէ. վէ իւլիւմ վէ ֆունպւն, վէ սէնաաթ վէ շիիր վէ լէթայիֆէ մախսուս պիր րիսալէ տիր
Edited by and published by Vartan Pasha (also known as Hovsep Vartanyan) and printed in Istanbul at Mühedisyan Hovhannes Taphanesi.
Monthly, then weekly, finally daily; November 1852-1877.
A bilingual (Armeno-Turkish and Armenian) publication devoted to a wide variety of topics, Mecmua-yi Havadis was the first Armeno-Turkish periodical to appear in the Ottoman Empire. Although not a primary concern, pieces on literature did occasionally appear among the work’s content.
See also: Ueno, Masayuki, “One script, two langauges: Garabed Panosian and his Armeno-Turkish newspapers in the nineteenth-century Ottoman Empire,” Middle Eastern Studies, 52:4 (2016), pp. 605-622; and Çankara, Murat,”Mecmua-i Havadis’ten Agos’a: Ermenice Bilmeyen Ermeniler ve Basın,” Toplumsal Tarih, 301 (2019), pp. 8-11.
Mecmua-i ibretnüma: edebî dergi; işbu mecmua beher mah-ı Arabî evahirinde bir defa çıkar
مجموعه عبرتنما: ادبى دركى؛ اشبو مجموعه بهر ماه عربى اوخرنده بر دفعه چقار
Edited by Mustafa Refik and published in Istanbul by the Cemiyet-i Kitabet.
Monthly; 1281 [1865] – Muharrem 1283 [May-June 1866].
The first literary journal published in the Ottoman Empire, Mecmua-i ibretnüma was just one of the many periodicals produced by Mustafa Refik and the Cemiyet focused upon contemporary literary trends in the Ottoman Empire.
Michael Erdman is the Curator of Turkish and Turkic Collections at the British Library. He was awarded the title of PhD by SOAS University of London in 2018 for his dissertation on the comparative historiography of origin narratives in early Republican Turkey and the Soviet Union. His other works can be found on his Academia.edu profile and on his blog.