"The First Collection of Serious Documents on the Clothing of the Near Orient." (René Colas)
Fine copy of Nicolas De Nicolai's milestone work on the costumes of the Ottoman Empire.
Nicolai's work has been lauded with a number of superlatives, including being "the first [book] to represent the costume of the Near East in detail" (Mortimer) and "the most influential introduction to Turkish costumes" (Blackmer). In any case, the depictions are extremely finely executed and proto-Orientalist in their design, as exemplified by the plate of the self-mutilating dervish. While his plates limit themselves to regional costumes, the text itself also focuses on geography, economy, and travel.
The plates show men and women from all walks of life from throughout the Ottoman Empire, including Algiers, the Mediterranean, Greece, and Turkey. Plates include not only the customary high-class society and soldiers, but also tradesmen and villagers. Various religious denominations are depicted, with a Jewish doctor and a Jewish tradesman depicted.
Nicolas de Nicolai served as royal geographer on the expedition sent by Henri II to Constantinople in 1551. He joined Gabriel d'Aramon's embassy, which had been established between 1547 to 1554 to convince Suleiman the Magnificent to ally with the French. Nicolai's book is based on the first-hand observations he made while a part of this embassy.
Provenance
With the bookplate reading "Ex Libris Ch. Oulmont." Oulmont (1883-1984) was a French man of letters and bibliophile who was the recipient of a number of prizes from the Académie française for his poetry and critical works.