Page 12 - The Age of Sultan Suleyman the Magnificent

for their generosity in facilitating my research: Leopoldine Arz and Gary Vikan in Baltimore;
Vishakha Desai and Jean-Michel Tuchscherer in Boston; Kjeld von Folsach in Copenhagen;
Elsie Holmes Peck in Detroit; David James in Dublin; Sheikha Hussa al-Sabah in Kuwait;
Princess Esra Jah, J. Michael Rogers, and Oliver Watson in London; S. Gary Welch in New
York; Marthe Bernus-Taylor in Paris; Rifaat Sheikh al-Ard in Riyadh; and Christian Beaufort-
Spontin and Angela Vôlker in Vienna. A special thanks goes to the late Edwin Binney, 3rd,
for his generous and enthusiastic endorsement.
I would also like to thank David Alexander for encouraging me to include a larger selection
of ceremonial arms and armor; Hüsamettin Aksu, Ludvik Kalus, Anatol Ivanov, and Mo-
hamed U. Zakariya for translating and verifying inscriptions; Reha Günay for taking the photo-
graphs of the objects in the Turkish collections; Zeki Findikoglu for designing the cover and
drawing the reconstructions of fragmentary textiles; Alan Fisher for reading the chapter on
the historical setting; Walter B. Denny for reading the entire text and giving constructive sug-
gestions; and Nurhan Atasoy, Ülkü Bates, John Carswell, Talat S. Halman, and Louise W.
Mackie for providing references as well as encouragement.
My tenure as guest curator at the National Gallery of Art was the most pleasant and mem-
orable part of the project. The generous support and hospitality of the director, J. Carter
Brown, and his staff were extremely gratifying, enabling the exhibition and its related activi-
ties to be successfully realized. I am particularly grateful to D. Dodge Thompson, Chief of Ex-
hibition Programs, and the members of his department; and to those who worked on the
production of the book: Melanie B. Ness, the designer; Jane Sweeney, the editor; and Mary-
rose Smyth, my invaluable assistant.
This publication, which is the result of years of research, is dedicated to these and other
friends and associates who shared my enthusiasm and optimism, gave me moral support and
encouragement, and assisted me in my studies by providing me references and information.

Esin Atil

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