MARQUIS DE SAUSENAY: CHYPRE,NOTICE HISTORIQUE ET GEOGRAPHIQUE. PARIS 1878 First edition, large in 4to, contemporary cloth over boards, a fine binding, text clean and bright, complete 32p. and the large (47x31cm) folding map of Cyprus drawn by Drapeyron specially for this publication,ex libris of the library of Marquis Fernard de Sausenay with his armorial plate in front past dawn, overall in almost mint condition and the author s own copy. Sausenay (1846-1912) wrote this work when Cyprus was on the way to pass under British control. His aim was to provide an historical and statistical snapshot that emphasized in the historic ties of France with the island over the new British administrative claim. He focused on the history of the house of Lusignan, claimed that Cyprus was essentially a French colony of the Middle Ages that had been lost and provide a note on the climate, the population and the ports,explaining why the island is the key to the Levant. The account contain one of the rarest maps of the island. Of the utmost rarity and author s personal copy.