Voyage pittoresque de Constantinople et des rives du Bosphore.

£57,500 · Offered by Shapero Rare Books

rare unfolded example of the first edition 'One of the finest topographical illustrated books ever produced' (Koç). A superior unfolded copy of the first edition of Antoine Melling's magnificent work on Constantinople. Unfolded examples rarely appear on the market. The magnificent plates include some of the earliest interior views of the Topkapi Palace Harem and other palaces, besides stunning delineations of the city's skylines, often with members of Ottoman society in the foreground. Born in Karlsruhe in 1763 into a family of painters from Lorraine, Antoine Ignace Melling, studied painting and mathematics before, at the age of nineteen, travelling to the Levant as a member of the Russian Ambasador's household. In Constantinople he was fortunate to be introduced to Sultan Selim III's half-sister Hatice Sultan by the Danish ambassador Baron Hübsch. Melling worked for Hatice Sultan at her palace at Ortaköy where he designed a maze in the style of one in the garden of Baron Hübsch, and the success of this encouraged Hatice Sultan to employ Melling to create a new palace for her in the neoclassical style. At the princess's suggestion Sultan Selim III appointed Melling as Imperial Architect, a privileged position which gave him the opportunity to observe the Ottoman Court at close hand during his 18 years in Constantinople. He became more familiar with the Ottoman palaces than any Western artist since Gentile Bellini, and produced numerous detailed drawings of the architecture an

• Binding: Hardcover

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