RYCAUT

HISTOIRE DE L’ÉTAT PRÉSENT DE L’EMPIRE OTTOMAN
contenant les maximes politiques des Turcs…

Traduit de l’Anglais de Monsieur Ricaut par Monsieur Briot.

RYCAUT, Paul

Paris, 1670

Folio, 22 x 28.5 cm.

with separate engraved title-page, 21 engravings in the text, 3 engraved headpieces and 3 engraved initials.

The rare FİRST FRENCH EDITION of Sir Paul Rycaut’s famous Turkish chronicle, drawn from various authentic sources and from the author’s own observations.

“This work is regarded as one of the best of its kind with respect to the religious and military state of Turkey” (Cox). “[Rycaut’s] most important work [.] presents an animated and, on the whole, faithful picture of Turkish manners” (DNB). “Provides an account of the society and political system of the Ottoman Empire with unprecedented thoroughness” (cf. Osterhammel, Die Entzauberung Asiens, 32). “An extremely important and influential work, which provides the fullest account of Ottoman affairs during the 17th century [.] Rycaut was appointed consul in Smyrna, where he resided for eleven years. His information on the Ottoman Empire was taken from several sources: original records, and from a Polish resident of some nineteen years at the Ottoman court” (Blackmer). The attractive engravings depict dignitaries and persons of various ranks in their costumes (several on Arabian horses), also including the illustration of a turban (in the letterpress on p. 115).