Small 8vo. [12], 334 pp., contemporary boards, rubbed, all edges red, book plate verso front cover, title somewhat browned and with small loss at top corner, 4 cm tear to lower margin of page 1 without any loss, text-block slightly warped, isolated foxing, Daniel Ludwig Wedel, Danzig, (Poland), new edition improved and annotated, 1779.

Synopsis

Oriental travelogue. Otto Friedrich von der Groeben (1657-1728) was a soldier and explorer in the service of Brandenburg-Prussia and other European countries. In the year of his death, he held the rank of Lieutenant-General in the service of the Polish king. In 1673 he travelled at the age of 17 to Malta and was caught between Malta and Crete in a skirmish with pirates; he also visited Cyprus, Egypt, Palestine and Spain. After almost eight years of absence, in 1680 he returned to Prussia. He went to Berlin, where he joined the Great Elector, The Duke of Prussia Friedrich Wilhelm as a “Kammerjunker” (Groom of the Chamber).
In 1686 he undertook, with the approval of the electors, a trip to Venice, where he fought under the Venetian forces led by Francesco Morosini against the Turks for the conquest of Morea (the peninsula in the Peloponnese). After his return the following year, he was awarded the Medal de la Générosité.
Bibliographic references: Rohricht p. 275; Not in Blackmer; Kainbacher I, 160 – 113; Tobler.