Lot 08113

“Travels in the Morea: with a map and plans”, 3 vol., John Murray, 1830, PLUS the Supplement: “Peloponnesiaca: A Supplement to Travels in Morea”, J. Rodwell, 1846. Four (4) Volumes in 8vo. Rare complete set of William Leakes account of his two journeys to Morea in 1805, including the supplementary volume describing a further expedition in 1806. FIRST EDITIONS. Half-titles, large folding engraved map of Greece, 16 engraved regional maps and plans (some folding), 12 lithographed plates of inscriptions (a few folding), 4 plates in the supplement. Some browning and spotting, later half calf, gilt red morocco spine labels (slightly rubbed), the Supplement in modern cloth. Vice-colonel William Martin Leake (1777-1860) was a topographer, antiquarian and member of the society of the Dilettanti. He is considered one of the most systematic researchers of Greek territories. He studied the strategic possibilities of the Peloponnesus, its roads and fortified positions. He also conducted pioneering explorations of Northern Greece and Asia MInor. During his missions, Leake recorded every important feature of each area in his systematic, meticulous and precise style. Leake collected several antiquities, today housed in the British Museum and the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge. His work “Travels in the Morea” is rarely offered along with the Supplement “Peloponnesiaca”, printed 16 years after the 1830 first edition. (Atabey 691 and 693, Blackmer 974 without supplement).