Algarotti: Brieven.. en krygsmagt van Russland benessens een verhaal van den Russischen oorlog tegen de Turken in der jaare 1735. Harlingen 1770 First edition, in Dutch.Small 4to 23x14cm,contemporary leather over boards slightly rubbed, complete half title, title in red and black,252p.,overall in very good condition. Francesco Algarotti was a Dutch diplomat of Italian origin,in service in the Ottoman Empire.In his lengthy account, in form of letters, deal mainly with the rise of Russia’ s power in the Levant as a potential protector of the orthodox populations, the positions of the Greeks and the Russo-Turkish war of 1735-38 which made clear that the Ottoman Empire was in decline and not far from a sudden collapse.Algarotti was personally strongly Philhellene and believed that the Greek rise was just a question of time. One of the very first Philhellenic works in Dutch. The account had been published in 1770 when the Ottoman collapse was a possibility after the new Russian victories. Not in Atabey or Blackmer. Scarce