James Emerson: Letters from the Aegean.London 1829 First edition,in 8vo complete in two volumes, contemporary boards rubbed,spine of volume one missing,spine of volume two restored,text clean and bright but binding has suffered,overall in good condition James Emerson was a young Irishman who, like many Philhellenes, went to Greece to fight. He served in the Greek army and participated in several campaigns. However, by 1829, he had transitioned into a historian and politician. His writing is more polished and analytical than the urgent dispatches of Leicester Stanhope.The Letters,originally written to friends and later compiled, cover a wide geographic range across the Aegean Sea. Emerson provides chilling, second-hand accounts and descriptions of the devastation on the island of Chios. This event was a major turning point in European public opinion against the Ottomans.He documents the lawlessness that plagued the sea during the transition of power, where Greek sailors, deprived of trade, often turned to piracy.He balances the beauty of the classical ruins with the wretchedness of the modern Greek refugees. The description of the starving population and the ruined villages with a somber tone is astonishing.An accurate Philhellenic work from someone who fought for Greece