Estat present de L'Empire de Maroc. by Pidou de Saint-Olon, Francois - 1694

Independently published, 2021-02-21. Paperback. Used:Good.

Paris: Michel Brunet, 1694. 160x90mm. (6¼x3½").. Paris, Michel Brunet, 1694. En 8º (160 x 90)mm. (8),1897 [i.e.227], (1) pp. 10 láminas, de ellas 2 plegadas. Encuadernación de la época en piel, lomera cuajada de dorados, restaurada en cabeza y pie. Primera edición. Mínimo punto de taladro en el margen superior hasta la mitad del volumen sin afectar

[xxiv]+216+[12] pages with frontispiece, folding map and eight engraved costume plates. Duodecimo (6 ¼" x 3 ½") early full calf, later spine label. First Edition in English. First published in French the prior year which was published without the plates.François Pidou de Saint Olon was a French diplomat under Louis XIV. In 1682, he was nominated as the first French resident envoy to the Republic of Genoa, following the Bombardment of Genoa. He was then sent as an envoy to Madrid. In 1689 , François Pidou was appointed ambassador to the court of Sultan Moulay Ismail, for the signing of a commercial treaty and to release prisoners, now slaves, of Barbary corsairs of Salé for 233 including 29 bedridden Moroccan prisoners held by the French. His mission was not successful, however, he continued to stay more than three weeks more in Morocco. The book gains particular interest through its author's position as ambassador, giving him access (not always voluntary), to areas of Moroccan society previously… Read More

London, Printed for R. Bentley, 1695. . First English edition, 12mo, xxiv, 218, [12] pp., frontispiece, folding map, 8 engraved plates, some light browning to text, contemporary calf, red morocco label, small repairs to spine and corners, a very good copy. The late seventeenth century saw Morocco at the peak of its power, first under Emperor Al Rashid, who had united the ancient kingdoms of Fez and Morocco, and then under his younger brother and heir, Mulai Ismail. François Pidou de Saint Olon (1640-1720) a career diplomat, was sent by Louis XIV to effect an exchange of slaves, and to conclude a peace treaty and alliance against Algeria. Saint Olon met the Sultan but the mission didn't go well and he departed without securing his objectives. He has, however, left us a good account of the country and its peoples. Playfair, Morocco, 308.