Redhouse's Turkish Dictionary

Sir James William Redhouse was born in London and grew up in an orphanage. He received a technical education, which likely prepared him for a naval career. He traveled around the Ottoman Mediterranean, including Izmir and Istanbul, as a cabin boy on board a merchant ship. In Istanbul, he worked as a draftsman in the Ottoman navy and quickly learned Turkish. He was later offered a post in the Turkish government assisting with communications in foreign affairs. Because of his translation skills, he was commissioned to create a Turkish-English dictionary by the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. He compiled the original and authoritative Ottoman - English dictionary in 1834 and continued improving it over the years. This milestone work has become the basis for many subsequent Turkish - English dictionaries, and many students and scholars continue to keep different versions of the Redhouse, including a pocket version, secondary education and collegiate editions, and massive 2-volume professional versions. All editions are easily identified by their crimson red covers.* On display is the 1880 edition, which still represents Turkish in the Arabic alphabet, predating the Turkish Republic’s shift to a Latin-based alphabet in 1928. Lehigh’s copy was acquired in 1881, shortly after it was published in London.

*Archives and Special Collections Librarian Ilhan Citak owns four different versions of the Redhouse and has been using them on a daily basis for decades.