157 - Leon Heuzey: Le Mont Olympe et l Acarnanie, exploration de ces deux régions avec études de leurs antiquités, de leurs population… Paris, 1860

Leon Heuzey: Le Mont Olympe et l Acarnanie, exploration de ces deux régions avec études de leurs antiquités, de leurs population… Paris, 1860 First edition, Quarto, later leather over boards, spine sunned and with splashes, preserving original publishers paper covers, text clean and bright, complete 494p. and all plates, very richly illustrated, overall in very good plus condition French archaeologist Léon Heuzey (1831-1922) was in a French state mission in Macedonia. He was a member of the French School at Athens, while earlier travelers had looked at Mount Olympus from a distance as a mythological symbol, Heuzey was one of the first to treat it as a topographical and archaeological reality. Heuzey didn't just climb; he mapped. He explored the monasteries, like St.Dionysius, the ancient ruins of Dion, and the hidden passes used by klephts and armatoles. He is credited with rediscovering several ancient sites in Macedonia. His work laid the groundwork for his later, more famous discoveries in Macedonia. Unlike purely classical scholars, Heuzey was fascinated by the Greek monasteries. He saw them as the living fortresses of Greek culture under Ottoman rule.He describes in details the Vlach shepherds and the Greek mountaineers, providing a social snapshot of a region that was largely lawless and controlled by local warlords.