ottoman athens
GUILLET DE SAINT-GEORGE, George, pen name Sieur de La Guilletière]. Athenes ancienne et nouvelle, et l'estat present de l'empire des Turcs, contenant va vie du sultan Mahomet IV … Troisième edition, augmentée en plusieurs endroits sur les Memoires de l'Autheur. Paris, Estienne Michallet, 1676.
Small 8vo. Contemporary full vellum; pp. [xxiv], 456, [34], folding engraved plate of a Greek amphitheatre and one folding engraved plan of, printed on thin paper (a few repairs), which is frequently missing; lower cover a little spotted, occasional spotting and light even toning, final leaf with marginal paperflaw touching the last line of privilege (dated January, 1675).
Celebrated in the 17th and 18th centuries this is a scarce work on Athens and Greece under Ottoman rule, by a French scholar, writer and actor, who pretended that his brother had visited Athens and sent him letters. However, Guillet was a clever compiler of first-hand information supplied by Giraud, the French consul in Athens and the plan was provided by the Capuchin monks who resided in the city. 'Certainly Guillet's account did contain information on the contemporary state of the city and he very much emphasized the need to compare the ancient and modern cultures' (Blackmer).
See Atabey 539 and Blackmer 766.
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