Ghostwriting in Ottoman Literature: Athenian Priest Mehmed's Conversion Narrative as Transcribed by Veysi

Abstract

In a literary compendium consisting of the renowned Ottoman prosaistVeysi's(d. 1037/1628)works,wefind the workVak`a-i Islam-i Rahib. Although attributed to Veysi, it is absent from extant sources. Written in the first person, the work is both a conversion narrative and a rejection of Christianity by an Athenian priest. Upon realizing that Christians intentionally misinterpret Biblical passages heralding the coming of a messenger, the priest travels to Istanbul and converts to Islam before Sultan Ahmed I. Since he relates in his work that he does not speak Turkish, earlier studies have questioned how he could have authored the work in such an extremely artful style in Turkish. This article will examine a record in the hitherto unstudied Nuruosmaniye manuscript naming Veysi as the one who transcribed the Athenian's account. The article uses historical and textual insights, material regarding book culture, newly discovered copies, and an in-depth readings of known copies to assess the record's authenticity. By situating the work within Ottoman authorship culture, this article will reveal that it to be a rare instance ofghostwriting in Ottoman literature and highlights seventeenth-century practices in compiling multiple-text manuscripts.