WENCESLAS WRATISLAW OF MITROWITZ: Adventures of Baron Wenceslas Wratislaw of Mitrowitz what he saw in the Turkish metropolis Constantinople, experienced in his captivity……, translated from the original Bohemian.London 1862. First edition in English, following the original Czech edition. In 8vo (20 × 13 cm). Original green cloth. Text clean and bright. Complete: title, 211, [31] pp. In very good plus condition. A very rare early account in its first widely accessible edition. Wratislaw of Mitrowitz was a member of the imperial embassy of 1591 to Constantinople under Friedrich von Krekwitz. Leaving Vienna in October, he passed through Ottoman Hungary and observed the many ruined churches in the Balkans. By mid-November, in Thrace, he stopped at Ormenio (on the modern Greek border), where he noted a caravanserai and a mosque. In Adrianople he remained several days, recording its monuments, before proceeding through eastern Thrace with detailed notes on Havsa, Bulgagium (Voulgarophigo), Pirgos, Karistra, Tzorlou, and Silivria. On reaching Constantinople he had some time to explore the city’s monuments, but renewed hostilities at the frontier led to the imprisonment of the envoy. Wratislaw was condemned to five years as a galley slave. After his release he wrote his famous account in 1599. Published centuries later, it became the most widely read Czech Renaissance text in the 19th century. This vivid narrative provides remarkable detail on many aspects of the Ottoman Levant, from the perspective of a man who endured five years chained to the galleys. An impressive and rare account.