Add MS 8624

DESCRIPTION OF IONIAN AND AEGEAN ISLANDS, THE LEVANT AND FAR EAST, OTTOMAN TERRITORIES AND POLAND; bef. 1773 [see f. 11v]. Italian. Fair copy, possibly autograph. Imperfect. The text is divided into three parts. Prominence is given to the history and practice of major religions, including Islam, Hinduism, the Armenian and Greek Orthodox Churches, together with brief accounts of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem and the Teutonic Order. The Portuguese Emmanuel Pinto de Fonseca (1741-1773) is mentioned (f. 11v) as the contemporary grand master of the Order of St. John. The content seems to suggest that the author was himself a member of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem. The MS. is briefly described by Hasluck, p. 203. Owned by Frederick North, 5th Earl of Guilford, but lacking his armorial bookplate. '175' in pencil in top left corner of f. 1. Purchased, together with Add. 8626, 8628, 8632, 8634, 8639, and 8640, from R. H. Evans, 8 Dec. 1830, lot 175 (part).

1. ff. 1-15, 55-57. Storia del Arcipellago Inedita [added title]. Inc. (f. 1) 'Arcipellago si chiama così tutte le spiagge di mare, ove trovasi un gran numero dIsole', expl. (f. 15) 'il secondo chiamato...'. The text is a brief introduction to the history of the Aegean Islands, the Ottoman Empire, the Mogul Empire, the Peloponnese, Bosnia, Malta (ff. 7-7v), the Order of St. John (ff. 7v-11v), and Persia (ff. 11v-15), and breaks off in account of the Persian religion. Possibly it also included the description of the island of Lepanto (now ff. 55-57v).

2. ff. 16-54v. Description of India, Persia, Armenia, Arabia and Yemen. Inc. '... e la coda rossa la pancia gialla, e sono lunghi un palmo il delfino è un pesce bellissimo', expl. 'Le loro acque sono calde ed hanno...'. The text includes accounts of India (ff. 16-19) and its four religions, Ceylon (ff. 19-22), Persia and Islam (ff. 22-47v), the Armenian people and their religion (ff. 47v-49v), Arabia and Yemen (ff. 49v- 54), breaking off with the description of Christian pilgrimage to the monastery St. Catherine of Sinai.

3. ff. 58-120v. Stato presente de Domini posseduti dal Gran Signore de Turchi in Europa. Descrizione dellIsola di Candia with later addition e Morea. Inc. 'Dopo dessere usciti dellAsia, e dopo daver vedute tutte quellIsole, che spettano a quella parte di Mondo', expl. 'stropiciarselo ben bene con la neve', with later note at the end Descrizione Istorica di Candia e Morea Inedita Rara. 10. The text includes descriptions of Crete (ff. 58-60), the Aegean Islands (ff. 60-67), Crimea and Moldavia (ff. 67-87) including also an account of the Russian campaign by Charles XII of Sweden and his captivity in Bendery between 1709-1714, Rumania and Thrace (ff. 87-92v), Macedonia, Albania, Epirus and Thessaly (ff. 92v-93v), the Pelopennese and Greece (ff. 93v-100v) including a short description of the Acropolis in Athens with details about the Parthenon and its decoration (ff. 98-99v), an account of the Greek Orthodox Church (ff. 100v-102v) and other Christian Churches (ff. 102v-113v) in the Levant, a description of Poland (ff. 113v-120v) with a note on the Teutonic Order (ff. 115v-117).

Paper; ff. 121. Some leaves missing before f. 16 and after f. 54, and possible misplacing of ff. 55-57. Modern foliation in pencil 1-120 (followed here), repeating no. 53. Old foliation in ink 1-14, 57-96 (ff. 1-14, 16-54). 193 x 130mm. Italian hand. Some later marginal notes.