(MARANA, GIOVANNI PAOLO).
L'espion turc dans les cours des princes chretiens ou lettres et memoires d'un envoye secret de la Porte dans les cours de l'Europe. 7 vols.
London, aux depens de la Compagnie, 1742.
12mo. Uniformly bound in seven nice contemporary full marbled calf binding with four raised bands. Blind-tooled ornamentation to boarders of boards. Light wear to extremities, a few scratches to boards. Internally nice and clean. (2), XLVIII, 382, (12) pp.;(2), 382, (16) pp.; (2), 428, (16) pp.; (2), 347, (13) pp.; (2), XVI, 451, (13) pp.; (2), 372, (10) pp.; (12), 350 pp. + 24 plates (out of 25?) and 7 frontispieces.
A nice set of the fifteenth edition of this work, being a collection of fictitious letters containing observations on contemporary European affairs by an Ottoman agent in Paris. The first edition of this work began publication in 1684 when a volume in Italian titled "L'esploratore turco" and a French version entitled "L'espion du grand seigneur" were published in Paris by C. Barbin. Authorship is disputed, but it is generally agreed that the first fifty letters (the original four volumes)--were written by Marana. Barbier ascribes two volumes which appeared in 1696 under title, "Suite de L'espion turc", to C. Cotolendi. (Barbier. Dictionnaire des ouvrages anonymes, v. 2, col. 176-178).
Order-nr.: 60799
DKK 8.000,00