12mo. [22], 314 pp., [6], contemporary full-calf, rubbed, upper part of spine partly cracked at ends (not detached), title gilt & decoration on raised spine, small tear to top corner of last leaf with no loss to text, inscription on front fly leaf, occasional spotting, Michel Guerout, Paris, first edition, 1689.

Synopsis

First original edition, dedicated to the King of France. Édouard de La Croix (often referred to as the Sieur de La Croix) was a French diplomat and orientalist, probably born around 1640, died in Paris in 1704. He stayed in the Ottoman Empire as embassy secretary between 1670 and 1686.
In 1670, he accompanied the Marquis de Nointel as secretary when the latter joined his post as French ambassador to Constantinople; they arrived at the end of October in the Ottoman capital. Between January and April 1671, they traveled to Adrianople where Sultan Mehmed IV and Grand Vizier Fazıl Ahmet Köprülü resided. On June 5, 1673, after a long negotiation, Ambassador Nointel obtained the renewal of the capitulations between the Ottoman Empire and the Kingdom of France; the Sieur de La Croix was instructed to deliver the original text of the agreements to Louis XIV (September 1673 – summer 1674). During this stay at the court of France, the Minister Colbert asked him, on his return to the East, to find him manuscripts for his library.