Lot 00137 |
JOHN HARTLEY: Researches in Greece and the Levant. London 1833
Second edition, corrected and revised. In 8vo 20 x 13 cm, contemporary plain publisher’s hard boards with printed title on spine. Binding soiled, upper joint weak. Text clean and bright. Complete: [4], 383 p. and two folded maps, as called for. Manuscript ownership inscription of William St Clair, leading Hellenist, on first page. Overall in very good condition and with
fine provenance.
Hartley (1799-1868), an English missionary, arrived in Greece and the Levant in the late 1820s
to help the devastated population and accomplish his missionary duties. His lengthy account covers the
daily life and customs of the ordinary Greek people, including fine descriptions of weddings, burials, and other traditions. He also spent time in
Constantinople.
The second part of the book presents
two analytical journals that Hartley kept on a daily basis during his main travels. The first records his visit to
western Asia Minor in 1826, where he visited the famous
Seven Churches. The second is a
detailed itinerary in the Morea during the first half of 1828, where he was an eyewitness to the chaotic situation after
Navarino and before the final withdrawal of the Egyptians.
A very valuable and rare account, absent from the major collections of the area.