33 - GEUFRAEO ANTONIO: Aulae Turcicae, Othomannicique Imperii descriptio, qua Turcarum palatine officia mores. Baselae, Sebastian Hencipetri Martio, 1577

GEUFRAEO ANTONIO: Aulae Turcicae, Othomannicique Imperii descriptio, qua Turcarum palatine officia mores. Baselae, Sebastian Hencipetri Martio, 1577 Second edition in German of one of the most important 16th-century travel accounts of the Levant. In 8vo. Contemporary full vellum, soiled, with manuscript title on spine. Complete in two parts: [96], 509 pp. with beautiful full-page woodcut device; [16], 728, [20] pp., with the same device at the end of the second part. Some scattered waterstaining, mostly in the opening pages but present throughout; light spotting; old library stamp on title. Otherwise a very good copy of a rare 16th-century work, bulky at nearly 1,500 pages. Geufraey (c.1500-1556), a French knight present at the siege of Rhodes, traveled widely in the Levant after the island’s fall. His account, with its detailed description of the Ottoman Empire, made a strong impression on 16th-century Europe. He emphasized the state of the Ottoman system-its structure, inner workings, grandeur, and its strengths and weaknesses. While not always sympathetic, his observations are strikingly accurate, providing one of the most detailed pictures of the Ottoman Levant in the mid-16th century. This edition also includes Breydenbach’s very early account of the Armenians and Georgians, along with several exhortations against the Turks, notably Bessarion’s rare mid-15th-century oration. The second part offers a lengthy continuation up to the contemporary period, with many descriptions of Turkish pirate attacks on the Greek islands-particularly the campaigns of Barbarossa-and extends coverage up to the battle of Lepanto. These additions are not found in the French or earlier German editions. References: Atabey 491; Göllner 1620; not in Blackmer