Voyage de Dimo et Nicolo Stephanopoli en Grèce, pendant les années V et VI (1797 et 1798 v. st.)

First edition, illustrated with eight plates, two of them folding. Some were drawn by one of the two travellers (they are signed "Stephanos") and engraved by Laurent Guyot; the others are entirely the work of Guyot.

Bound in full tan marbled calf, smooth spines decorated in gilt, tan morocco lettering-pieces, black morocco numbering-pieces, gilt roll to board edges, French curl paper pastedowns, sprinkled edges. Occasional light rubbing to the bindings, joints of the first volume weakened and partly split, a few scattered spots of foxing.

Bookplate of Şefik E. Atabey on the pastedowns of both volumes. This Turkish bibliophile assembled one of the most important collections of books devoted to the Ottoman Empire and the Levant.

Account of two missions, one on behalf of the French government and the other on behalf of General-in-Chief Bonaparte, entrusted in 1797 to two Corsican Greeks, Dimo Stephanopoli and his nephew Nicolo, who came from the Maniot colony settled on the island in the late seventeenth century. The stated purpose of the voyage was to study the marine flora of the Greek coasts, but its real aim was to sound out the political leanings of the inhabitants on Bonaparte’s behalf. Setting out from Livorno, the travellers reached Venice, sailed along the coasts of Istria and Dalmatia and passed back through Ancona. They then called at Corfu, Cephalonia, Zante and Cerigo, before entering the Mani, from Marathonisi to Vitylo. They returned by way of Arcadia, Zante, Cephalonia and Preveza, and ended their journey at Corfu.

Antoine-Alexandre Barbier attributes the writing of this account to Antoine Sérieys, a professor at the Prytanée, who is said to have compiled it from the two travellers’ reports. The account brings together observations on the customs, language and religion of the Maniots, views of antiquities and several folk songs. It is an important source on the Mani, written nearly a quarter of a century before the Greek War of Independence.

Some sources confuse Dimo with Démétrius Stephanopoli de Comnène (1749-1821), an officer whose descent from the Comnenus dynasty had been recognised by Louis XVI. The authority records of the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek, however, treat them as two different men.