The eight volumes of letters writ by a Turkish spy, who liv'd five and forty years undiscover'd at Paris : Giving an Impartial Account to the Divan at Constantinople, of the most Remarkable Transactions of Europe : And, Discovering several Intrigues and Secrets of the Christian Courts (especially of that of France) continued from the Year 1637, to the Year 1682. Written, originally in Arabick, Translated into Italian, from thence into English. And now Published with a Large Historical Preface and Index, to Illustrate the Whole. By the Translator of the First Volume

Descripción

Eleventh Edition, complete in eight volumes, of this espionage saga admired by Defoe, who published Continuation of Turkish Letters Writ by a Turkish Spy in 1718. 12mo(162 x 96mm): xxvi,[6],viii,[10],312; [24],276; [22],287,[1]; [22],288; [22],276; [22],264; [14],248; [18],280pp, with copper-engraved frontispiece of "Mahmut the Turkish spy" to volume one. Full speckled English calf, spines in six compartments divided by raised bands, covers framed with gilt rules and floral roll in blind, red morocco letter-pieces gilt, edges speckled red. A superb set, in a handsome contemporary binding, securely bound and clean throughout. ESTC citation no. T91588. Blackmer 210. Moore 406. Volume One, by Marana, a Genoese political refugee to the French court of Louis XIV, is a translation of a manuscript in the Bibliothèque Nationale, in Paris, and originally published in parts in 1684, in French as l'Espin du Grand Seigneur and in Italian as L'esploratore Turco. Translated into English by William Bradshaw in 1687 under the supervision of Robert Midgley, who held the copyright. The remaining seven volumes appeared first in English, between 1691 and 1694, prefaced with a letter claiming their translation from a discovered Italian manuscript. Their authorship has been attributed to various writers, most notably Midgley and Bradshaw. The letters, written by one "Mahmut the Arabian," cover the period of 1637 to 1682 in France, from the last years of the Regency of Anne of Austria and Cardinal Richelieu through the long reign of Louis XIV and his minister Cardinal Mazarin. Taken together, they form a rambling journal of gossip on politics and society. Mahmut's observations range from those on political figures such as Richelieu and Mazarin to speculations on the status of women, advice about state policy, and major interventions in controversies about religious doctrine and their consequences. The series launched a literary genre, the pseudo-foreign letter, of which Montesquieu's Lettres persanes and Goldsmith's Chinese Letters are examples. Daniel Defoe admired the spy's deist rationalist sympathies, and extended the narrator's account from 1682 to 1693 in his Continuation of Turkish Letters Writ by a Turkish Spy in Paris (but see Furbank & Owens, p. 8). N. B. With few exceptions (always identified), we only stock books in exceptional condition. All orders are packaged with care and posted promptly. Satisfaction guaranteed. (Fine Editions Ltd is a member of the Independent Online Booksellers Association, and we subscribe to its codes of ethics.).

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Título

The eight volumes of letters writ by a Turkish spy, who liv'd five and forty years undiscover'd at Paris : Giving an Impartial Account to the Divan at Constantinople, of the most Remarkable Transactions of Europe : And, Discovering several Intrigues and Secrets of the Christian Courts (especially of that of France) continued from the Year 1637, to the Year 1682. Written, originally in Arabick, Translated into Italian, from thence into English. And now Published with a Large Historical Preface ...

Editor

Printed for G. Strahan, S. Ballard, J. Brotherton, W. Meadows, T. Cox, W. Hinchliffe, J. Stag, J. Clarke, in Duck-Lane, S. Birt, D. Browne, T. Astley, S. Austen, J. Shuckburgh, L. Gilliver, J. Hodges, E. Wicksteed, J. Oswald, J. Comyns, C. Bathurst, T. Fisher, J. Carter, and A. Wilde, London

Fecha de publicación

1741

Encuadernación

Full Calf

Estado

Fine

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• XIX CENTURY