The subjects of the illustrations which accompany this edition of J. Spon 's voyage (1678), which is highly significant for the author's pioneering exploration of ancient sites, are novel and groundbreaking for their time. Most of the pictures are first-ever depictions of archaeological sites and remains. The monumental work of M.G.F.A. Choiseul-Gouffier expressed the love of antiquity and the philhellenism of tits era in new and original fashion, establishing at the same time the primacy of graphic representation in  travel accounts. It includes the first view of the remains of Pergamon, as well as a table of coins and other antiquities found in the area. Plates of Antiquities from Pergamon were also published in the work by Ch. Mac Farlane (1830) while coins of the city are included in the edition by P.Ol. Brönsted (1830). In the rare album of drawings in sepia kept at the Gennadius Library (Album of 18 original drawings in sepia, c. 1800), the artist conveys the overall sensation of the landscape with intensity, at the cost of details of each monument.

From the mid-19^th century onwards, Asia Minor is explored in a more thorough and systematic way. The first half of the 19^th century saw the publication of Albums, which included interesting views of the Asia Minor cities known as Seven Churches of the Apocalypse (Ch. Mac Farlane, 1832). An inn close to Pergamon is depicted in Ch. Fellows' work (1839). In the reedition of Ch. Texier's excellently documented three-volume “Description of Asia Minor” (1882), there is an illustration of the impressive Church of Saint John Theologian. The valley of Pergamon is also rendered by landscape painter E. Rey in 1867, in the graphic style typical of the era.

Written by Ioli Vingopoulou