MARTIN DU TYRAC (vicomte de Marcellus), “Souvenirs de l’Orient”, Brussels, Société Belge de Librairie, 1840. COMPLETE in 3 volumes 12mo, including 2 folding plates of which a plate of the statue of Aphrodite of Milo and a folding map of the Eastern Mediterranean. Second edition after the first that appeared one year earlier in 2 volumes in Paris.

Tyrac stayed years in the Levant, as diplomatic agent to the French embassy in Constantinople, undertaking diplomatic missions travelling through the Eastern Mediterranean through Greece and the Aegean and as far as Jerusalem. During these travels (1820) Aphrodite of Milos statue was discovered and Tyrac arranged for its purchase and transport to France. The current edition is a description of Tyracs travels to the East, from Corsica to Istanbul, the Hellespont, Chios, Delos, Milos, Santorini, Cilicia, Cyprus, Rhodes, Crete, Paros, Naxos, Syros, and Athens. In the Milos’ chapter he reports the finding of the Aphrodite statue along with its depiction in a folding plate.

Contemporary half calf, spine tooled in gilt, all edges marbled, Ex-Libris label “Βιβλιοθήκη Σπ. Λοβέρδου” in gilt. External rubbing along edges, corners and joints. Interior with occasional spotting, wear along the folds of the plates and water-stain on Aphrodite of Milos plate.

Blackmer 1087 (for the 1839 edition)