Lot 08234

CAMPBELL Sir George, “A Handy Book on the Eastern Question: Being a Very Recent View of Turkey”, London: John Murray, 1876. In 12mo, p. xviii,212,4p. of publisher’s ads, with a large fold-out map of Christians in European Turkey. Second edition of this forthright contribution by an experienced British colonial administrator to 19th-century debates over the fate of the fracturing Ottoman Empire and the scramble among European powers to fill the resulting power vacuum. Two editions were published in rapid succession in late 1876; both are now scarce in commerce. Chapters describe Turkish society, politics, and current affairs with Greeks, South Slavs, Albanians, Armenian and Jews, leading to Campbells conclusion that the region should be stabilised through the introduction of greater self-governance and territorial independence for different religious and ethnic groups.

Original blue wavy-grain cloth, spine and front board lettered in gilt; extremities rather rubbed. First 15 pages and p. 161-176 detached, but not missing; otherwise, clean. Hand-coloured folding map at rear, with recent tape repairs at most folds. A nice Rare copy.