Having served in key positions in the late Ottoman bureaucracy—such as Mektupçu (Chief Secretary) at the Ministry of the Interior, Undersecretary, Chief Secretary to the Grand Vizier, and Chief Secretary to the Palace—Ali Fuat Türkgeldi was an exceptional writer who witnessed numerous political developments from the Second Constitutional Era to the Republic. He met the leading figures of the period, recorded his testimonies, and revealed the views and mindset of the Ottoman government during his tenure in his works. The value of his books is not limited to merely writing down what he saw and heard; he addressed the events that occurred in the seventy years between the Tanzimat and the proclamation of the Second Constitutional Era in a comparative manner, also citing European sources, while at the same time analyzing the official and private personalities of the individuals who played a role in these events. What makes his writings on these subjects unique is that, in addition to the historical documents he included, he saw many documents penned by Tanzimat statesmen, examined the political papers transferred from Yildiz to the Sublime Porte while he was Undersecretary to the Grand Vizier, and had the opportunity to meet the families of the important figures whose personalities he analyzed and review their private archives.
In the memoirs he wrote, he did not mix in his emotions much, and he always questioned any rumor he heard, whether in favor or against someone. If there was an aspect that went against his logic, he did not hide it but conveyed it to the reader, and when the time came, he did not refrain from criticizing even the narrations of the Sultan himself, labeling them as "palace gossip." Drawing an important profile in this respect, Ali Fuat Bey is like a judge who tries not to do anyone an injustice by keeping the scales of justice balanced with what he wrote.
Ali Fuat Bey entered his retirement period during the Republican era and focused on research and publishing activities. A portion of his writings had been compiled and published previously. His serialized work titled *Historical Anecdotes* (Tarihî Fıkralar), which we have given the overarching title *Unheard Memoirs Regarding Ottoman Statesmen* (Osmanlı Ricaline Dair İşitilmemiş Hatıralar) for its inclusion in the Büyüyenay library, was published in the *Servet-i Fünûn* newspaper between August 18, 1927, and April 19, 1928. In the work, which has achieved book integrity for the first time, there are memoirs concerning the unknown aspects, attitudes, behaviors, personalities, occasional witty sides, and private lives of 19th-century Ottoman statesmen. Our author created this serialization by conveying both the information he personally witnessed and what he heard, writing about the prominent bureaucrats, poets, and intellectuals of the era, most notably Mustafa Reşid, Âli, and Fuad Pashas. Among these, Halet Efendi, Keçecizade İzzet Molla, Grand Vizier Mahmud Nedim Pasha, Safvet Pasha, Yusuf Kâmil Pasha, Ahmed Vefik Pasha, and the poet Eşref are prominent examples.