173 - John Henry Leech: Letters of a Sentimental Idler, from Greece, Turkey, Egypt, and the Holy Land. New York, 1869

John Henry Leech: Letters of a Sentimental Idler, from Greece, Turkey, Egypt, and the Holy Land. New York, 1869 First edition, in 8vo, publishers burgundy cloth nicely rebaked, 463p., text clean and bright,overall in very good condition. John Henry Leech published a collection of his correspondence and observations from a journey through the Ottoman East and Greece. He adopts the persona of an Idler, a gentleman of leisure who travels to observe the human heart and the picturesque, rather than to collect data or map territory.However Leech was a keen observer of the political and social shifts of the early 1860s.He captures the romantic but often chaotic atmosphere of Athens. He is less interested in the height of the columns and more in the sentiment of the modern Greeks living among the ruins. His letters from Constantinople provide a lighthearted but often biting commentary on the Westernization of the city. He views the adoption of European dress and customs as a thin veneer over an ancient Oriental core. Leech represents the American Literary tradition of travel, which prioritized personal reflection and wit over the dry statistics.