ABSTRACT
The Persian Divan of Ottoman Sultan Selim I played a special role in German-Turkish cultural relations. At the beginning of the nineteenth century, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe became aware of a verse by "Selimi" by way of reading the Denkwurdigkeiten von Asien in Kunsten and Wissenschaften by Heinrich Friedrich von Diez. The Istanbul literary scholar 'Ali Nihad Tarlan' used this edition as the basis for his translation into the Turkish language and published it in his third volume of a series he titled Turk Klasikleri. Nearly a century later, on June 9, 1905, the German Charged affaires in Istanbul presented a sumptuous edition of the Divan to Sultan Abdulhamid II on behalf of Emperor Wilhelm II. Even the catalog of an exhibition dedicated to the friendship of Abdulhaid II with the German Emperor does not mention the Divan anywhere. Despite its size and cost, Wilhelm's present in return seems insubstantial when compared to the gifts he received from the Sultan.
