Recueil des différents costumes des principaux officiers et magistrats de la Porte, et des peuples sujets de l'Empire Othoman..., Paris, chez Onfroy [ca. 1780].
This rare Album was created and published anonymously. It is comprised of plates with costumes, human types of the Ottoman Empire and officials of the Ottoman administration. Most of the illustrations copy pictures of the highly popular work of N. de Nicolay, first published in 1563. However, the legends to several plates misdescribe the figures. The edition included ninety-six plates in total, while the copy of the Gennadius Library only has thirty-five plates. Illustrations are accompanied by short explanatory texts.
Albums showing Ottoman officials and other human types of the Ottoman Empire circulated from the 16th century onwards and gradually became very popular. Wood and copper engravings were replaced by lithographs and watercolours, and often the etchings were coloured. In the 18th century, several variations on a fixed series of subjects were in circulation, and by that time the plates rendered figures, faces, nationalities, professions, costumes and other picturesque details in much more realistic style.
Written by Ioli Vingopoulou
