GUER

MOEURS ET USAGES DES TURCS, LEUR RELIGION, LEUR GOUVERNEMENT CİVİL, MILITAIRE ET POLITIQUE, AVEC UN ABRÉGÉ DE L’HISTOIRE OTTOMANE

GUER, M. (Jean-Antoine) (1713-1764)

Paris, 1747

First edition, 4to, 2 Volumes

Published by Pierre Mortier & Mérigot et Piget,

Guer did not travel in the Levant; the text of the work is compiled from Grelot, Busbecq, Belon, Rycaut, Maillet, etc. In fact, to his contemporaries Guer was best known as the editor of Maillet?s Telliamed. His Turkish work is of considerable interest for its plates, which were engraved by Duflos after designs by Boucher and Halle and which consist of views and scenes illustrating Turkish characters and costumes.

This work is especially valued for its engravings of Turkish costume figures and genre scences by Duflos after Boucher and Hallé” (Navari Greek), as well as for “its fine folding panorama of Constantinople” (Atabey). “The French writer and jurist Guer (1713-64) had not travelled. His work is based on a wide knowledge of historiography and travel literature. It is singled out by the high quality of its wealth of illustrations” (cf. Chatzipanagioti-Sangmeister). The first edition was published by Coustelier in Paris, 1746-47; the same year saw the second edition (Merigot & Piget in Paris) as well as the third (Mortier in Amsterdam).