CHEVALIER DE LA MAGDALEINE: LE MIROIR DE L EMPIRE OTTOMAN OU L ETAT PRESENT DE LA COUR ET DE LA MILICE DE GRAND SEIGNEUR AVEC UNE DESCRIPTION DE LA MANIERE DE VIVRE…. PARIS 1678 First edition,in 12mo,contemporary full leather slightly rubbed,spines gilt,complete in two volumes 262p.,280p.,text clean and bright,a very light uniform browning at the very last pages of volume two,overall in very good condition. Claude de La Magdaleine, a French nobleman and military officer of the Burgundian family of La Maglaleine de Ragny fought in Greece, in the Venetian service, at the last phase of the Cretan war and has been enslaved by the Ottomans.Because of his status and education he was taken to the Seraglio and later during his captivity served as interpreter for high ranking Ottoman officials and lived in the inner circles of the Ottoman administration.He gained knowledge of the wider empire and travelled in Greece during the early 1670s.In 1671/1672 followed the Ottoman army in expeditions in the northern Balkans and in present Ukraine.He escaped and return in France where he published his memoir providing insider information for the Levant of the second half of 17th century. Unlike other works he provides contemporary intelligence on the empire's finances, laws, and customs.It covers daily life in Constantinople, including coffee culture, public baths and the status of Christians and Jews,the Millet system, within the empire. As a Christian,he paid particular attention to the actual condition of the Christians under Ottoman rule at the peak of the Ottoman power.