Sarajevo and Mostar Poems in the Poetry Collection Numbered R. 21 at the Library of the Oriental Institute, University of Sarajevo

In classical Turkish literature, journals have an important place because they reflect the social structure, art, and literary taste of their time, and are important documents in terms of clarification of literature and history. A thorough examination of poetry journals registered in manuscript libraries could lead to the identification of poets whose names are not mentioned in biographical sources, as well as poems that have not been encountered in any previous sources. This would lead up to new research. In this context, it is fundamental that identifying, classifying, and conducting a detailed examination of journals in both domestic and international manuscript libraries. In the libraries of Bosnia and Herzegovina, one of the Balkan countries where Turkish culture and art have had a significant impact, there are journals containing poems by poets who, although thay originally were Bosnian, preferred to write in Turkish. One of these journals is the poetry collection numbered R. 21 in the Library of the Oriental Institute at the University of Sarajevo, and that journal is the subject of our study. When examining this journal, the presence of poems describing the beautiful and beauties of Bosnia draw attention. In this article, the poems by Hacı Derviş, Tab‘î, Mecâzî, Derviş Paşa, and Selmân, which are recorded in the periodical and written about Sarajevo and Mostar will be examined. The study includes information about the general characteristics of the journal containing the poems, the content of the city poems in the journal, information about the poets, and the transcription of the poems from Arabic alphabet to Latin alphabet. By addressing the natural, architectural, and cultural features of Sarajevo and Mostar, which are important cultural centers of Bosnia and Herzegovina, this study aims to highlight the existence of journals in the libraries of Bosnia and Herzegovina and to draw attention to the valuable information that can be obtained about the Balkan cities that stayed under Ottoman rule for centuries through further research.