GEOFFROY DE VILLE - HARDOUIN ET FRESNE DUCANGE: HISTOIRE DE L EMPIRE DE CONSTANTINOPLE SOUS LES EMPEREURS FRANCOIS DIVISE EN DEUX PARTIES DON’T LA PREMIERE CONTIENT L HISTOIRE DE LA CONQUETE DE LA VILLE DE CONSTANTINOPLE ECRITE PAR VILLE-HARDOUIN…LA SECONDE CONTIENT UNE HISTOIRE DE CE QUE LES FRANCOIS ONT FAIT DANS L EMPIRE DE CONSTANTINOPLE…. PARIS 1657 Second edition of Villeharduin famous travel account of the 13th century,first edition for the second part,the complete history prepared by Ducange..IMPERIAL FOLIO,contemporary full leather, seriously scuffed at upper cover,spine richly gilt,text clean and bright,complete all parts irregular pagination,overall in good condition as the covers have wear,the interior in brilliant condition. An impressive book.It was edited and significantly expanded by the legendary French scholar Charles du Fresne du Cange who is considered the founder of Byzantine studies.First part is the original 13th century account,an Eye-Witness account of the fourth crusade and the sack of Constantinople in 1204. Villehardouin was a leader of the crusaders and his text is one of the most important primary sources for the fall of the city to the Latins. Du Cange provided the original Old French text alongside a contemporary French translation. Second part contains Du Cange’s own history of the Latin Empire of Constantinople. He meticulously documented the reigns of the French and Latin emperors from the conquest in 1204 until the Greeks recaptured the city in 1261, and even further until the Ottoman conquest in 1453. Before Du Cange, Western Europe had a very fragmented and often biased view of the medieval Greeks. This book was the first to apply rigorous modern historical methods to the history of the Latin and Byzantine East.He had access to many medieval manuscripts that have since been lost or damaged. His 1657 transcriptions are, in some cases, our only window into those documents.