Cornucopia (magazine)

Cornucopia was founded by John Scott and Berrin Torolsan in 1992. It is an English language magazine that concerns Turkish culture. The magazine has a broad scope that covers Turkey’s heritage (prehistoric, Byzantine, Ottoman and Republican and that of the Turkic peoples.

The magazine also documents recent auctions and exhibitions of Turkish Art and Islamic art around the world. It has a large books section with reviews by prominent contributors.

Cornucopia also carries regular features on food, restaurants and life in Turkey by Berrin Torolsan, Andrew Finkel and Azize Ethem respectively.

Notably, Cornucopia has brought publicity to some of Turkey's threatened heritage.

• At the end of 1993 it documented the Mocan Yali in the historic area of Kuzguncuk, in ‘The Pink House’ by Andrew Finkel. The wooden building has since been pulled down and rebuilt in concrete.[1]
• The 1999 article ‘Rhapsody in Blue’ by John Carswell documented the 14th-century tiles of the Murad II Mosque in Edirne. These have since been vandalised.[2]

In both cases this is the only photographic record in print.

• In 1999 James Mellaart chose to publish his controversial discovery of 9,000-year-old paintings of Çatalhüyük in the early 1960s.[3]

• Maureen Freely, The Guardian: "Finally, no one should go to Turkey without reading at least a few issues of Cornucopia (cornucopia.net), which has to be one of the most beautiful magazines in the world. Published here, its remit is Turkey - not its sordid politics, but its art, architecture, history and antiquities."[4]
• Craig Brown, The Daily Telegraph: "Surely one of the most intelligent and beautiful glossy magazines in the world".[5]
• Tyler Brûlé, founding editor of Wallpaper* and Monocle: "Focused on celebrating and chronicling all things Ottoman-inspired and influenced, Cornucopia is a cross between World of Interiors and National Geographic, with a gentle Turkic twist. I've been trying to collect all the missing back issues for years now and still have some annoying gaps in my neatly arranged stacks."[6]
• Travis Elborough, The Guardian: "… boasting pages with the sheen of baklava and sumptuous full-colour photography throughout (and the photos, many stunning, do have the edge over the words in amount of space occupied), Cornucopia … doesn't skimp on writing of quality either."[7]
• Caterina Scaramelli, who spent a summer helping out at their İstanbul office, is quoted in Today's Zaman: "I see articles in Cornucopia as a journey into intriguing aspects of life, culture and history in Turkey; some are secret pearls waiting to be discovered, while others are subjects represented to the public with great attention to detail and accompanied by splendid photos. Cornucopia is a great travel companion, whether the journey is real or imagined. It's published three times a year and distributed both in Turkey and worldwide with around 18,000 copies sold each time."[8]

The cover of issue 14

Notable contributors have included:

The cover of issue 29

The cover of issue 20

1. Insider's Turkey, 1992
2. The Essential Rose, 1992
3. The Pink House: Inside the Mocan Yalı, 1992/93
4. The Absolute Guide to Istanbul, 1993
5. Palaces of Diplomacy I, 1993/94
6. Palaces of Diplomacy II, 1994
7. The Great Walls of Istanbul, 1994
8. A Turkish Summer, 1995
9. Ideal Worlds, 1995/6
10. Ingres and Lady Mary, 1996
11. Anatolia Rediscovered, 1996
12. The Black Sea, 1997
13. The Turkish Garden, 1997
14. 'Objects of Desire: Books on the Ottomans, 1997/98
15. Mountain Secrets, 1998
16. Beguiling Büyükada, 1998
17. The Republic, 1999
18. The Ottoman Riviera, 1999
19. Forgotten Riches: Poland's Ottoman treasures, 1999
20. The Lake that Time Forgot, 2000
21. Ottoman Damascus, 2000
22. The Sultan's Chalet, 2000/01
23. Haute Ottoman, 2001
24. The Wild East: Travels in Southeast Anatolia, 2001
25. The Abstract Heart: The Visionary Photographs of Zafer Baran, 2002
26. The Birth of Art: The Discovery of Göbekli Tepe and Nevali Çori, 2002
27. Sublime Simplicity: The Timeless Pots of Alev Ebüzziya Siesbye, 2002
28. Peoples of the Black Sea, 2003
29. Ottoman Gardens, 2003
30. Early Journeys, 2003/04
31. China's Wild West, 2004
32. The Connoisseur's Guide to Istanbul, 2004
33. Great Exhibitions, 2005
34. Ottoman Kaftans, 2005
35. Istanbul Elegy, 2006
36. Beauty on the Bosphorus, 2006
37. A Riot of Textiles, 2007
38. The Big Bursa Issue, 2007
39. Diplomatic Secrets, 2008
40. Highlights of the First 40 Issues, 2008
41. Bathing Beauty:The Imperial Hammams of Istanbul, 2009
42. Adventures in Anatolia, 2009
43. Shrines & Sanctuaries, 2010
44. Classics With a Twist, 2010
45. Painting the Orient, 2011
46. Labour of Love, 2011
47. Queen of the Nomads, 2012
48. Rural Treasures, Autumn 2012
49. Travels in Tartary, April 2013
50. Istanbul Unwrapped: The Sultan's City, Autumn 2013
51. Istanbul Unwrapped: The European City and the Sultan's New City, Summer 2014
52. Istanbul Unwrapped: Bosphorus Requiem, Spring 2015
53. Istanbul Unwrapped: The Princes Islands, Autumn 2015
54. Dive into Summer, June 2016
55. Parodies Lost, May 2017
56. Brave Old World, October 2017
57. Black Sea Miracle, May 2018
58. Anatolia's Far Pavilion, October 2018
59. Behind Closed Doors, June 2019
60. Istanbul: The Ultimate Museum Guide, January 2020[9]

Most back issues are still available, or can be found in second had book stores. Some have become collector's items, fetching large sums of money.[10]

• Official website (now archived)