COMPTESSE LA FERTE - MEURTAND: Lettres sur le Bosphore ou relation d un voyage en different parties de l Orient pendant les annees 1816 a 1819, revue corrigee et augmentee de deux letters et de la chapelle de la derniere heure, Histoire Grecque. Paris 1822. Second enlarged edition. In 8vo 21 x 13.5 cm, contemporary leather over boards, slightly rubbed, joints restored. Text with some light scattered spotting on a few pages, otherwise clean and bright. Complete: title, 485 p. [2], and engraved frontispiece with a view of Constantinople. Overall in very good condition. The Comtesse La Ferte-Meun, mother-in-law of the French ambassador Marquis de Riviere to the Sublime Porte, had the opportunity to travel freely and extensively in the Levant between 1816 and 1819, leaving behind an important account. She was the second lady traveler (after Lady Mary Montagu) to produce detailed descriptions and a pioneer among women travelers in the Levant. Her narrative provides extensive observations of daily life, festivities, ceremonies, and especially the place of women in Levantine society. As a woman, she was able to access and remark on aspects of life invisible to male travelers. She did not remain only in Constantinople during those three years. She also visited Smyrna and several Greek islands, offering a fine description of Greek Easter (Πάσχα) festivities. As stated on the title page, this edition adds two newly found letters regarding her travels in the Levant, as well as a 30-page account of recent Greek events during the insurrection of 1821, absent from the first edition. Very rare account, not in Atabey, Blackmer, or other known major collections.