A resourceful lady and a book about a famous Turkish architect in Istanbul
THE ARCHITECT MIMAR SINAN (c1489-1588) was the greatest of Turkish architects. There are many wonderful buildings of all sizes and for a wide variety of purposes designed by him all over Istanbul.
When visiting a tourist information office on the Asian side of Istanbul, I noticed several copies of a book called “Mimar Sinan’s Istanbul”. Beautifully illustrated with a detailed text, I quickly decided that I would love to own a copy. I asked if I could buy a copy. The official said that he could not sell me one because they were for reference only. I asked where they were sold, and was told that I could buy one at the publisher’s bookshop. The book is published by Turing. The discovery of the book occurred on a Friday.
On the following Sunday, we found the Turing shop. It was shut. We went again on Monday, and found a notice stating that it was always closed on Mondays. Tuesday was a public holiday. So, we did not bother going to the shop. On each of our abortive visits, I could see the book on a shelf in the shop, but could not quite see its title.
On Wednesday, the shop was open. We entered it, and discovered that they only stocked the Turkish edition. As it is beautifully illustrated and remarkably cheap given its fine quality, we purchased a copy.
Later that day, my wife Lopa had an ingenious idea. We were not sure whether it would work, but it was worth a try, especially as the tourist office was close to where we wanted to go the next day.
On the following day, we took the ferry to the Asian side, carrying with us the brand new copy of the Turkish edition of the book about Sinan, and returned to the tourist office. Lopa asked the official, who remembered us, whether we could exchange our Turkish book for one of the office’s books in English. Without hesitating, the official said:
“Why not. We don’t have a copy in Turkish.”
He handed us a copy of the book in English, and we gave him our Turkish copy. I was very pleased and full of admiration for Lopa’s resourcefulness – especially as it was her birthday.
