Acknowledgements Note on Transliteration Table of Contents List of Figures Prologue by Kristel Smentek Introduction 1. The Emergence of the Library as a Building Type Where 'Knowledge as Capital Found Currency' - Libraries Born within Madrasa Architecture - Innovative Statesmen of the 'Tulip Period' - Public Libraries Styled as Public Kiosks - The Charity to Emulate: The Âtif Efendi Library 2. Libraries in Mansions and Palaces: Disengagement from Treasuries - Library Wings of Mansions - A Testimony to the Advances in Learning: Admiral Mustafa Pasha's ilm'b'd - A Practice Ground for Young Intellectuals: Private Librarianship - Books in the Sultanic Palace - A 'Belated' Building: The Ahmed III Library - New Libraries for Palace Servants 3. Pilgrimage to the Library: The Bayt al-Mamû r/Kaaba Analogy in Ottoman Libraries - The Bayt al-Ma mûr in Ottoman Sources - The Invention of a Study Pilgrimage - Facing the Temple's Likeness Excursus: Repositories of Polymath Erudition 4. Architectural Quests during the Height of the Age of Libraries - The F'tih Library and the Aedicule Form in Ottoman Library Design - The F'tih Library's Probable Architect: Mehterz'de Alî Efendi - Successors to the F'tih Formula - An Occidentalist Pavilion: Imported Plans and the Nuruosmaniye Library - The Ottoman Fascination with Models: Playthings, Curios and Inspiration for Architectural Practice - Ut adab architectura : Architectural Awareness in the Age of Libraries - A 'Nest of Exuberance': The R'gib Pasha Library as the Apex of the Ottoman Library Movement 5. Perceptivity of Mind, Illumination of Eyes and Other Rewards of Libraries - Eloquence as the Standard of Civilisation - Distinctions Drawn through Books - Cosmic Libraries and Human-Libraries - Visiting Art in the Library - Meticulous Care in Selections Conclusion Epilogue by Çigdem Kafescioglu Appendix: Map of Libraries Built in Istanbul between the 1670s and 1850 Bibliography.