< Back

The key work to an understanding of Constantinople in the first half of the sixteenth century

GILLIS, Pierre.
De topographia Constantinopoleos, et de illius antiquitatibus libri quatuor. Ad reverendiss. & illustriss. D. Georgium Cardinalem Armaignacum.

With woodcut printer's device on title and many decorated woodcut initials and headpieces; an engraving of Gillis's coffin at the end of his epitaph on p. (8).

With woodcut printer's device on title and many decorated woodcut initials and headpieces; an engraving of Gillis's coffin at the end of his epitaph on p. (8).

With woodcut printer's device on title and many decorated woodcut initials and headpieces; an engraving of Gillis's coffin at the end of his epitaph on p. (8).

With woodcut printer's device on title and many decorated woodcut initials and headpieces; an engraving of Gillis's coffin at the end of his epitaph on p. (8).

With woodcut printer's device on title and many decorated woodcut initials and headpieces; an engraving of Gillis's coffin at the end of his epitaph on p. (8).



Lyon, Gulielmus Rovillius, 1562. 4to. Seventeenth-century limp vellum with gilt coat of arms of 'D. Jacobus Conrad Praetorius' in the centre of the front cover; rests of ties; blue painted edges. With woodcut printer's device on title and many decorated woodcut initials and headpieces; an engraving of Gillis's coffin at the end of his epitaph on p. (8). (8), 245, (3) pp. including the often lacking last blank leaf.

With:
GILLIS, Pierre. De Bosporo Thracio libri III. Lyon, Gulielmus Rovillius, 1561. 4to. With woodcut printer's device on title and numerous decorated woodcut initials and some head- and tailpieces. (8), 263 pp.

Ad 1: The second issue, dated 1562 of the original edition of 1561 of this famous description of Constantinople by the French natural historian an antiquarian Pierre Gillis (Petrus Gillius, Albi 1490 - Rome 1555). It is the key work to an understanding of Constantinople during the first half of the sixteenth century. Gillis wrote the book after he had accompanied d'Aramon's embassy to the Porte in 1547 and after he had visited Asia Minor together with André Thevet.
Ad 2: First issue of the original edition of this important work on the Thracian Bosphorus; there is also a 1562 issue.
Together with its accompanying volume on Constantinople (1) with which it is bound in the same binding in our present copy, these two books are among the earliest works to describe the area, providing authentic and reliable information for travellers. As he was charged by King Francis I with searching for Greek manuscripts and antiquities, Gillis was very interested in those subjects and his treatises are not so much journals of his travels as sound accounts of the antiquities and archaeology of the places he visited. Gillis died in Rome in the beginning of 1555 and he was buried in the Marcellis church. His epitaph, dated 5 January 1555, is on p. (7-8) of the first book.
His works on Constantinople and the Bosphorus were edited by his nephew Antoine Gillis who dedicated them to Cardinal Georgius d'Armagnac, Pierre Gillis's patron and the man behind his important work on natural history: De vi et natura animalium, published prior to his travels to Turkey.

Good copy in interesting binding with the coat of arms of Jacob Conrad from Nikolsburg (see O. Walde, Storhetstidens ... krigsbyten, I, p. 285); sold as a duplicate from Uppsala University Library; bequeathed to Hans Sallander in 1959: annotation on the first fly-leaf. - (Some insignificant browning at places; last leaf damaged without lost of text; ties lacking).
Ad 1: Blackmer 685; Adams G1613; see also Goellner 1023; Atabey 496. Ad 2: Blackmer 684; Atabey 495; Adams G 1612; Baudrier, IX, 291; Goellner 1022.

Related Subjects: Armorial Bindings  Bindings  Topography  Turkey 

Add to Shopping cart
€ 23.000,00

Prices in EUROS (€), shipping and BTW/VAT extra.

< Back

Terms of sale

All items are offered subject to prior sale. Prices are nett and in (€) EURO. VAT/BTW, postage, and insurance are not included. 

Free shipping for orders over € 2,500.  EU customers: if applicable, please quote your VAT number when placing orders.

Preferred mode of payment: by credit card through our secure online payment service, which is facilitated by Ogone. If you wish to make other arrangements, please contact us. Terms of sale

E-mail this to a friend







This is a captcha-picture. It is used to prevent mass-access by robots. (see: www.captcha.net)

Type the characters that you see in the box (5 characters). The code can include characters 0..9 and A..F.*

  


Antiquariaat FORUM B.V.
Tuurdijk 16
3997 MS t Goy-Houten,
The Netherlands
Phone: (+31) (0)30 601 1955
Fax: (+31) (0)30 601 1813
E-mail: info@forumrarebooks.com
Web: http://www.forumrarebooks.com