Picturesque Representations of the Dress and Manners of the Turks

Very good copy of William Alexander's translation of Octavian Dalvimart's depiction of the costumes of the Ottoman Empire in the 18th century.

A complete set of these charming costume plates showing different ranks of courtiers and servants to the Sultan, enslaved women Sultanas, Odalisks and Eunuchs of the Seraglio or Harem, musicians and dancing girls of Constantinople, whirling dervishes, Spahi and Janissaries, officers and soldiers, Bedouin Arabs, Armenian, Tartar and Jewish men, etc.

Title page, vi, and 120 unnumbered pages (60 hand-coloured engraved plates and 60 text pages).

First published in 1802, and reissued by various publishers several times until the 1830s. [Some plates in this copy watermarked 1823.]

Octavian Dalvimart or d'Alvimart was a French painter and engraver active in London. He travelled in the Ottoman Empire from 1796 to 1800, sketching people of Constantinople (Istanbul) and their costumes from life.

The explanatory texts are based on works by Baron Francois de Tott, J. Dallaway, Guillaume-Antoine Olivier, Mary Montague, Joseph Pitton de Tournefort, Ignatius Mouradgea d'Ohsson, Barthelemy d'Herbelot, and others.

Half red morocco binding with five raised bands, gilt title, red cloth boards, marbled endpapers, AEG. Some scuffing to leather, boards slightly darkened, plates mostly free of any foxing but with a few thumb marks.