- 106
De la Croix, le Sieur
Estimate
7,000 - 9,000 GBP
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Description
- "Memoi[rs] du Levan[t]", early eighteenth-century manuscript so titled on spine, a description of the Ottoman Empire, comprising four chapters titled "De la Turquie" (with sections on Constantinople and Cyprus), "De la Syrie" (including Palestine and Judea), "De l'egipte" and "Memoirs sur le commerce du Levant, Par Le Sieur de la Croix de Sainte-Croix", in French
- paper
providing a description of the Levant, the people and their religions, and an outline of the history, the text written by a scribal hand, with some deletions and corrections in a darker ink, possibly authorial, and a biographical preface on the author, including sections on Constantinople, Adrianople, Smyrna, Fochia, Schio, Rhodes, Cyprus, Damascus, Balbec, Syria, Cesarea, Montliban, Tripoli, Sidon, Druses, Tyre, Acre, Mount Carmel, Jaffa, Rameh, Jerusalem, Jericho, Bethlehem, Alexandria, Becquier, Rosetta and Cairo, with further commentaries on the state of French trade with Constantinople, Cyprus, Cairo and elsewhere
"...Chypre est une ille fort abondante en diverses danrées qui nous sont necessaires. nos negotians sont establis a Lernica avec un consul ils y acheptent quantité de soyes, cotton, laines, des damites de soye et cotton et diverses aromates souvent nos vaisseaux y chargent du bled nous ny portons que de largent et tres peu de marchandises la consommation en essant trop petite. Le poid de la soye est l'ocque, et les autres marchandises s'acheptent au rote qui pese 5½ de Marseillle la mesure est le pie..."
155 pages, 4to (c.195 x 155mm.), foliated throughout 1-77, Arms of Amsterdam watermark (including the preface), contemporary speckled calf, spine gilt in compartments, red-gilt lettering piece to spine ("Memoi[res] du Levan[t]"), joints worn
"...Chypre est une ille fort abondante en diverses danrées qui nous sont necessaires. nos negotians sont establis a Lernica avec un consul ils y acheptent quantité de soyes, cotton, laines, des damites de soye et cotton et diverses aromates souvent nos vaisseaux y chargent du bled nous ny portons que de largent et tres peu de marchandises la consommation en essant trop petite. Le poid de la soye est l'ocque, et les autres marchandises s'acheptent au rote qui pese 5½ de Marseillle la mesure est le pie..."
155 pages, 4to (c.195 x 155mm.), foliated throughout 1-77, Arms of Amsterdam watermark (including the preface), contemporary speckled calf, spine gilt in compartments, red-gilt lettering piece to spine ("Memoi[res] du Levan[t]"), joints worn
Condition
Condition is described in the main body of the cataloguing, where appropriate
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."
Catalogue Note
The authorship is clearly attributed in the manuscript to "Le Sieur De la Croix", from Sainte-Croix, but his identity in fact remains obscure. The volume bears no title page, but in its place, there is a biographical preface ("Au lecteur"), which is signed by another hand (but on the same paper). This describes De la Croix as recently returned to France in 1705, after travelling seven years in the Levant. It appears that he is neither François Petis de La Croix (1653-1713), who was not in the Levant during this period, nor the Sieur de la Croix who wrote the Memoires...contenans diverses relations très-curieuses de l'Empire Ottoman (1684). See P. Sebag, 'Sur deux orientalistes français du XVIIe siècle', in Revue de l'Occident musulman et de la Méditerranée (1978).