KOTZEBUË, Maurice. - Lot 221

KOTZEBUË, Maurice. Voyage en Perse, à la suite de l'Ambassade russe, en 1817. Translated from the German by M. Breton. Paris, A. Nepveu, 1819. In-8, (3)-285-(1) pp. 4 plates including a frontispiece. Contemporary speckled basane, ornate smooth spine, green title-piece, gilt roulette framing the boards with gilt iron from the Institution Hallays-Dabot in the center of the boards, marbled edges (epidermures, small missing title-piece). First edition of the French translation, published the same year as the first German and English editions, translated from German by Breton de La Martinière. This diplomatic work was written by Moritz von Kotzebue or Kotzebuë (1789-1861), son of the famous German author and pamphleteer, then an officer in the Russian army who had access to diplomatic notes to write his book. His account of what he witnessed is invaluable for our knowledge of Persia in the early 19th century, a country that was less well known and considerably more closed than its Ottoman neighbor. It is illustrated with 4 plates (including a frontispiece) etched in black and colored, each with two figures (views, archi motifs, profiles of famous diamonds, military costumes...). Chadenat, 3263. [Perse].