Travels in the Morea, Albania, and other Parts of the Ottoman Empire...
London: Henry Colburn, 1813. Francois Pouqueville (1770 - 1839), was a French diplomat, physician and writer, who traveled with the scientific commission of Napoleon's expedition to Egypt in 1798. This is the account of his subsequent capture by Barbary pirates and captivity under the Pacha of Morea (the Peloponnese peninsula in southern Greece). He was held for a total of three years, first in Greece ("Tripolitza") and later Constantinople. Pouqueville learned Greek, later becoming Napoleon's general consul at the court of Ali Pasha of Ionnina. The Ali Pasha of Ionnina, whose name was Aslan, was known as "the Lion"; he was the Muslim Albanian ruler and Ottoman pasha of northern Greece and Macedonia. Pouqueville's written works helped establish the Philhellenic movement in Europe and contributed to the eventual liberation of Greece.
Here Pouqueville covers a wide range of topics, including: his capture by pirates, Tripolitza, Arcadia, Laconia, Maina, Morean Greeks, the modern Greek language, Constantinople, the Seven Towers, the bagnio at Constantinople, the court at Constantinople, the Elysian Fields, and Albania.
Translated from the French by Anne Plumptre (1760 - 1818), English translator and author, who supported Napoleon and who said she would welcome him to England as he would put an end to the aristocracy.
Royal 4to, xii, folding map, 482pp, LACKS the frontispiece. Original cloth spine and paper boards (detached). Original size uncut, a wide margin copy. Light general browning, at foredge otherwise very good condition. Needs a re-bind. OCLC: 5529421. Item #20611
Price: $850.00