GRAVÜR DÜNYASI
Digital Antique Prints Library
The Gravür Dünyası Digital Antique Prints Library is an independent open knowledge platform established in 2023 for the public benefit, without any commercial purpose, with the aim of preserving, digitizing, and sharing historical visual memory. This cultural initiative, brought to life through the collective efforts of the Gürbüzer Family (M. Uluğşad Gürbüzer, Selma Gürbüzer, Elif Gürbüzer, and Emre Gürbüzer), is Turkey's first and only digital antique prints library. It is also Turkey's pioneering digital memory project in this field, distinguished by the diversity of its library archive, advanced tagging infrastructure, and international accessibility.
The fundamental motivation of this initiative is to physically collect antique prints and maps printed in the 19th century and earlier, relating to world history, geography, and culture—particularly those of the Ottoman Empire—transfer them to digital format in high resolution, tag their information, and make this collection systematically accessible in an academically qualified database.
Each antique print and map physically present in The Gravür Dünyası Digital Antique Prints Library archive is cataloged with high-resolution images and bilingual records in both Turkish and English. During this process, detailed information tags regarding the subject, date, artist, engraver, printing technique, source publication, and content of the antique prints and maps are prepared in accordance with academic standards. Once cataloging is completed without any digital restoration, the antique prints and maps are made available online while preserving their original condition.
As of today, the open-access digital library archive consists of approximately 12,000 antique prints and maps. Since the digitization and tagging processes are not yet complete, numerous additional antique prints and maps await transfer to the system. As cataloging work progresses, these antique prints and maps will be regularly added to the digital library. The antique prints and maps in The Gravür Dünyası Digital Antique Prints Library are classified into 25 separate thematic areas. Some of these include:
Antique prints depicting cities in the Anatolian (Asia Minor) and Balkan-European geography of the Ottoman Empire, with Istanbul at the forefront.
Antique prints depicting daily life in Ottoman society, family and social relationships, harem scenes, clothing and costume culture, and traditional professions.
Antique prints depicting the military organisation of the Ottoman Empire, warfare technology, and battle scenes (particularly those published in The Illustrated London News and The Graphic newspapers concerning the 1853–1856 Ottoman–Russian War (Crimean War) and the 1877–1878 Ottoman–Russian War (93 War)).
Numerous historical maps, cartographic drawings, and atlas page antique prints of world states, regions, and cities, with a primary focus on Ottoman Empire territories.
Antique prints related to important world cities such as Paris, London, Vienna, and New York, and the architectural structures in these cities (scenes depicting palaces, bridges, squares, monuments, and urban fabrics).
Antique prints from Torah and Bible editions printed in the 19th century and earlier (with Turkish translations and chronological order from the sacred texts).
Antique prints reflecting the world's 19th-century fashion culture and international costume history, particularly French and English fashion (organized by country and chronologically).
Antique prints illuminating the early periods of world performing arts, particularly English theater and ballet, as well as works themed on music and dance, and portrait antique prints of many important composers such as Beethoven, Mozart, Bach, and Haydn.
Antique prints depicting scenes from William Shakespeare's works and works by William Hogarth, one of the pioneers of caricature art, as well as antique prints related to world literature and caricature.
Portraits of important figures from the worlds of art, science, and politics, as well as zoological and botanical antique prints showing animal and plant species.
The Gravür Dünyası Digital Antique Prints Library is committed to the principle of open access. All digital content may be used only for scientific, cultural, and educational purposes. Works whose copyright status is public domain are shared under the Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 4.0 license. When using any image, it is mandatory to cite the source and reference "The Gravür Dünyası Digital Antique Prints Library."
The Gravür Dünyası Digital Antique Prints Library has become a digital resource accessed by 67 Turkish universities and 101 foreign university libraries in a short time (current status and details can be found in the "References" section). It has been integrated into numerous international databases worldwide, including WorldCat, DBIS, and Osmikon. The Gravür Dünyası Digital Antique Prints Library is open to conducting joint projects with international archives, museums, and research centers.
The Gravür Dünyası Digital Antique Prints Library also shares antique prints from its archive along with their information through the following social media addresses:
The vision of The Gravür Dünyası Digital Antique Prints Library is to create Turkey's first physical antique prints library and/or museum—one that encompasses all subjects, including the historical, cultural, and artistic richness of our geography, and provides an environment for art and history enthusiasts, academics, students, and children who will become the artists of the future at a standard offered by universities and museums internationally.
We invite all institutions, organizations, academics, researchers, and art enthusiasts who support the vision of The Gravür Dünyası Digital Antique Prints Library in preserving and sharing cultural heritage to contribute to this open knowledge network.