[Rarebooks] FS: Account of Constantinople by the Owner of Maryland and of a Private Harem, 1767

[Charles Agvent]

CALVERT,  Frederick, 6th Baron Baltimore. A TOUR TO THE  EAST,  IN
THE  YEARS  1763 AND 1764. WITH REMARKS ON THE CITY OF  CONSTANTINOPLE
AND  THE  TURKS....  London:  W. Richardson &  S.  Clark  1767.  First
Edition.  ALSO  SELECT  PIECES  OF ORIENTAL WIT,  POETRY  AND  WISDOM.
Octavo  (4-1/4"  x  7") bound in contemporary calf  recently  rebacked
with  a new calf spine with gilt lettering and decorations; [1l],  iv,
176  pages.  Illustrated with an engraved title page,  four  full-page
engravings,  and  one very large (19-1/2" x 17-1/2") folding  plan  of
Constantinople.  One  of  the engravings is of Whirling  Dervishes  in
action.  Baltimore's  travels  took him from Italy through  Greece  to
Constantinople  in 1763. The following year took him through Bulgaria,
Moldavia,  Poland, and Germany until he eventually arrived in England.
The  author  was  the  last  in the line  of  Barons  Baltimore  and a
descendent  of  the man after whom the city in Maryland is  named.  In
fact,  though  he  never once set foot in it, Calvert  owned  Maryland
until  his death in Naples in 1771. He willed the colony to a son, but
the  American Revolution got in the way. His depictions into the  life
and  customs of the lands he traversed are vivid, just what one  would
expect  from someone kicked out of Constantinople after being  accused
of  keeping  a  private  harem.  Public  library  bookplate  on  front
pastedown,  library  ink stamp on title page, and three  occasions  of
ink  numbers in the text. The last copy to sell at auction was in 2002
for  several hundred dollars more than ours. Clean, close to Fine copy
of a scarce book.                                             $2000.00

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CHARLES AGVENT
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