[THE WESTERN MEASURES IN THE MIDDLE EAST / SCIENCE] Mesâhât ve ekyâl ve evzân-i cedîdeye dair kanûnnâme [i.e., The Code of Law on the new measurements, scales…]

Matbaa-yi Âmîre, Istanbul, AH 1285 = [1869]. Contemporary yellowish wrappers. Demy 8vo. (21 x 14 cm). In Ottoman script (Old Turkish with Arabic letters). [3], 31, [1], 25 p. tables of the new measurements. Tear on the spine without loss. Illegible Ottoman stamp on the recto of the front pastedown. Otherwise, a very good copy. First and only edition of this exceedingly rare first law book documenting, celebrating, and declaring the adoption of a new Western measurement system to the Ottoman Empire (and the Islamic world) including weights, measures, and surveying terminology and method. This rare earliest book code of law starts with a content page. After the title page, the text starts with Sultan Abdülaziz’s tughra and the statement "The Copy of the Imperial Edict". 25 charts of the new measures published in addition to the Code text are the first official charts that gave the metric equivalents of lands, cubage, and weight units together. In this 1869 Code, "meter" was adapted to th