Giovanni Antonio Menavino | I costumi, e la vita de Turchi, Florence, 1551, later calf

Giovanni Antonio Menavino

I costumi, et la vita de Turchi... con una prophetia, & altre cose turchesche, tradotti per M. Lodovico Domenichi. Florence: Lorenzo Torrentino, 1551

8vo (158 x 95mm.), woodcut initials, with blank leaf R7 but without blank R8, later sheep, binding somewhat worn

Menavino's account of the Ottoman world of the early sixteenth century, where he spent around ten years in captivity, was first published posthumously in 1548. The manuscript source (in Italian but with a Latin title) is dated 1519 and it is assumed that Menavino was present at the court of Selim I (1512-1520). His account describes the court and the Seraglio as well as civic life and even includes an account of a pilgrimage to Mecca in which, presumably, Menavino took part himself.

LITERATURE:

Blackmer 1112; Edit16 34582

PROVENANCE:

T. Dampier, of the Royal Society of London, inscription on second flyleaf; 26 January 1793, inscription in pencil on flyleaf verso; D.L. Cumming, signature on first flyleaf