LORCK & HAPPEL, DER TÜRCKISCHE SCHAU-PLATZ, (1683-)1685

Folio (331 x 197mm.), 24pp., 136 (of 137) ff., folding engraved map and folding view, 138 (of 139) woodcut illustrations in the text, woodcut head- and tail-pieces, old vellum, manuscript title on spine, title laid down, occasional browning, light worming, lacking ff.137 with full-page woodcut, 2 leaves slightly trimmed and small repair to ff.87, folding plan with repair and small marginal tears, minor soiling

Friedrich Engl of Wagrain, old ownership inscription on title; "Seiffenburg", on flyleaf; inscription on front endpaper by unknown owner, who acquired the book in October 1919 from Buch- und Kunstantiquariat Dr. Ignaz Schwarz, Vienna, Habsburgergasse 3, for 1,200 Crowns; Werner Habel (1939-2015), Viennese collector, ink stamp and signature

VD 17 23:231261H; not in Blackmer; We have only been able to trace 2 copies offered at auction in the past 40 years. There are copies in the British Library (583.k.7) and the Herzog August Bibliothek, Wolfenbuttel (M: Gv 4o6 and A: 123.5 Hist. 2o). 

Condition is described in the main body of the catalogue, 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."

THIS EXTRAORDINARILY INTERESTING AND VERY RARE VOLUME WOULD SEEM TO HAVE BEEN PUBLISHED AS A SERIES OF NEWS SHEETS IN THE WAKE OF THE SIEGE OF VIENNA. The editor is suggested to have been Eberhard Werner Happel, an active editor and miscellaneous writer of the period, best known for his "Thesaurus exoticorum".
The more than 130 large woodcuts was by Melchior Lorck, the Danish draughtsman who only recently was hailed as "one of the sixteenth century's most original artists". The illustrations fall into groups: first come those of people and things, consisting of pictures of natives of different parts of the Turkish empire, different grades of person and trades, with a few plates of horses or things (no.87 a Tartar covered wagon; no.92 reproductions of Turkish coins); then comes a group of views of towns, Damascus, Smyrna (9398), portraits of lady sultans (99-104), followed by some more individual types (including a dervish), then views of the great mosques of Constantinople (113-122), then more pictures of animals (horses, including an Arab horse, camels), individuals and things (Turkish standards) (123136), and last the double-page woodcut entitled "Das Turkische Kirchen-Gemahlde", which contains images of the famous mosques etc. of Islam, including that at Mecca.

The accompanying text for each image describes it in some detail, and is printed across the page. It is followed (printed in a smaller type and in 2 columns) by contemporary news dated from 2 September to 24 December [1684]. The preface stresses the trouble gone to present accurate texts, based on the best authors, and illustrations also of verisimilitude, mentions the work of Tavernier, and offers to the reader not only a survey of the empire but also an account of the wars against the Turks so that "der Leser hoffentlich [an early use of 'hopefully'?] einen guten Bericht von der Turckey und diesem jetzigen Kriege erlangen wird welches der einzige Zweck dieser Beschreibung gewesen ist".