RICHARD SIMON: Histoire Critique de la Creance et des Coutumes des Nations du Levant. Frankfurt 1693 Second edition. 8vo (16 × 10 cm). Later vellum over boards, probably early 20th century binding. Complete: title [3], 229, [1] pp. Text clean and bright. Overall very good. During the long Morean War, the French cleric Richard Simon, who had spent years in the Levant, published this detailed account of the peoples of the region. He analyzes the popular traditions and religious ceremonies of Greeks, Orthodox and Catholics, Armenians, Turks, and others. The first edition appeared in 1684. Such accounts were popular among Europeans eager to understand the conditions of the peoples devastated by war. They later became very rare, as they had been neglected for centuries until modern scholarship rediscovered their value as sources on social and popular culture.