Voyage litteraire de la Grece

Paris, Duchesne; 1783
4 volumes
With 9 (including 4 folded) copper plates.
Size 4 3/4 by 7 3/4"
Original leather with gilt embossed spines. Marbled edges.
Atabey 547. Navari 769. Griep-L. 545 Note Cohen-R. 468. Chatzipanagioti-Sangmeister 387
Rare First complete edition of this unusual "literary" travel book to Greece & the Levant by Pierre-Augustin Guys (1720-1799), physican of Lyons and member of the Academy of Sciences and Belles-Lettres of Marseille.
Guys was a merchant in Greece and Asia Minor in the middle of the 18th century, spent more than 30 years in the Levant engaged in commercial pursuits.
His knowledge of the Orient, and his literary and antiquarian studies led him to undertake a comparison between the ancient and modern Greeks, concluding that the modern Greeks were direct descendants of the ancients.
He describes Greek customs and customs with frequent reference to antiquity
Thus, Guys’ work forms an important stage in the development of French Philhellenism.
The engravings show, among other things, a Greek dance, Turkish funeral, bathing scene, Greek wedding, etc.
Bookplates at the front pastedown.
Very good condition, minor wear of bindings
text in French

Pierre Guys (1721-1799), a pioneer of philhellenism, travelled in Constantinople in 1739 and stayed in the Levant ten years for trading. He had a deep personal experience for the Greeks living under the Ottoman rule and was among the very first convinced that his contemporary Greeks ought to find their place among the free European nations. Guys describe very accurately the customs of his contemporary Greeks, their daily way of life, their ceremonies and their leading place on the trade in the Levant. This edition is considerably enlarged after long considerations of the author with Santi Loumaki-Chenier (see previous lot 38) and the first illustrated with fine views by the best French artist on his time. The huge (85x19cm!) folding view of an ancient aqueduct near Pirgos and other views, as the famous fishing view, have been drawn on the spot by Favray and Massil, friends of the author. A further travel account from Sofia to Constantinople though Thrace has been added in this edition. The work is an anthem of French philhellenism, a work which will contribute vastly to the wide vague of philhellenism at the eve of the Revolution.



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