127 - [Greece]. PEGUES, Louis.

[Greece]. PEGUES, Louis. History and Phenomena of the Volcano and Volcanic Islands of Santorini, Followed by a Glimpse into the Moral and Religious State of Modern Greece. Paris, Imprimerie Royale, 1842. In-8, (2) ff, VII-(1)-667, 1 fold-out map. Contemporary gray half-chagrin binding, ribbed spine, gilt title (spine faded, upper joint rubbed, very faint water stains and a few foxing spots, a small marginal tear on the map). First and only early edition. Part memoir, part treatise on volcanology by the Lazarist priest Louis Pègues, who headed the Catholic mission in Santorini from 1824 to 1837. The work combines an in-depth study of Thera’s geology with an analysis of post-Ottoman Greek society; in it, Pègues observes the geological upheavals of the archipelago while reflecting on the fate of the young Greek state (recognized in 1830). Complete with its large fold-out map of the island of Santorini, “surveyed with a compass by a captain in the Royal General Staff,” printed in black on fine paper. VULCANOLOGY.