122 - PHILIP JAMES GREEN: SKETCHES OF THE WAR IN GREECE. LONDON, 1827

PHILIP JAMES GREEN: SKETCHES OF THE WAR IN GREECE. LONDON, 1827 First edition, in 8vo, later leather over boards, large uncut copy, complete 328p., few discrete ex library stamps, otherwise untouched and in almost fine condition. An extremely important account for the Greek war of Independence. Green was the last British Consul in the Ottoman Morea based in Patras. He was physically present in Patras at the beginning of the Revolution and provided a unique neutral account on the growing suspicion between Greeks and Ottoman populations leading up to the armed revolt. The chapters detail major military operations including the siege of Messolongi up to the campaigns of Ibrahim in the Morea. Green describes the atrocities, the chaos and the breakdown of order of both sides. Unlike the vast majority of Philhellenes who wrote accounts he provided a pragmatic, diplomatic and critical perspective. It includes a massive appendix filled with official British state papers as well manifestos issued by the provisional Greek government that are otherwise unknown. It captures the structural transformation of Greece from an Ottoman province to an independent nation. A rare account.