139 - JAMES BEST: Excursions in Albania and a Journey from thence to Thessalonika and Constantinople. London, 1842

JAMES BEST: Excursions in Albania and a Journey from thence to Thessalonika and Constantinople. London, 1842 First and only edition. In 8vo, contemporary publisher’s cloth, spine slightly faded. Internally text is clean and bright. Complete: with the folding map (often missing), [12], 359 p. Overall in very good plus condition. Captain James Best, a British officer serving in the 1830s in the Ionian Islands, made two trips to the Ottoman Levant in 1838 and 1839, most probably for military reconnaissance. During the first journey, he visited Jannina, where he stayed for three months, providing a lengthy account of the city and the region of Epirus (then referred to as Albania). He also took the opportunity to hunt around Butrint (Vouthroto) Lake and in the surrounding mountains. In the following year, with a companion, he traveled to Vlora (Avlona), then to Delvino and Delvinaki, spending two weeks in Zitsa. He continued to Jannina, Metsovo, crossed Pindos, and offered fine descriptions of Meteora, Trikala, Larissa (still under Turkish rule), the Vale of Tempi, Platamonas, and the cities of the Macedonian plain up to Thessaloniki. Very few lengthy travel accounts of Thessaloniki from the early 19th century exist, and this is among the best, with more than 30 pages devoted to the Macedonian capital. From there he sailed to Constantinople, providing valuable observations on the Ottoman capital. His return journey took him via Thrace to the Danube, Vienna, and Trieste, from where he sailed back to Corfu. The travel account was most probably privately printed. Only two copies are recorded in public libraries worldwide (one in the British Library), and no complete copy with the map has appeared on the market in the past 40 years.Not in Atabey, Blackmer, or any other known collection. Very rare.