Mémoires sur les Turcs et les Tartares.

4 vol., 8vo: xlviii-274, 301, 252, 208 pp. (quires c & d inverted in vol. I, lower corner pp. 259-260 of vol. II repaired, upper corner repaired and tear strengthened to half title of vol. IV, marg. damp stains in vol. IV).

Mod. half red leather, marbled paper covers, gilt lettered flat spines, sprinkled edges.

First edition of this important source for Turkish history. Baron Fr. de Tott (1733-1793) was a French military officer of Hungarian origin. He went to Constantinople in 1755 and stayed there for 8 years. In 1767 he was appointed consul in Crimea where he incited the Crimean Tatars to rebel against Imperial Russia. He then played an important role during the Russo-Turkish War (1768-1744). Later, in 1770, the Ottoman government asked him to defend the Dardanelles against the Russian fleet. Tott travelled across the Ottoman Empire during his stay and also prospected for the construction of the canal in Suez.
Ref. Cox I:234. - Atabey 1227. - Blackmer (sale catalogue), 1049 (4to ed.).