The City of the Sultan, and Domestic Manners of the Turks, in 1836

This two-volume work, published in 1837, gives a lively and observant account of life in the declining Ottoman empire.

Julia Pardoe (Author)

9781108074414, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 19 March 2015

548 pages, 7 b/w illus.
21.6 x 14 x 3.1 cm, 0.69 kg

Julia Pardoe (1804–62) was famous for her historical biographies (some of which are also reissued in the Cambridge Library Collection), but this two-volume work, first published in 1837, arose from a visit to Turkey made by Pardoe and her father in 1836. It was very successful, with new editions appearing over the next twenty years, while Pardoe was considered to be second only to Lady Mary Wortley Montagu among female writers on Turkey. Attempting to give her readers 'a more just and complete insight into Turkish domestic life, than they have hitherto been enabled to obtain', in Volume 1 Pardoe describes the inhabitants of Istanbul, both the Ottoman governing elite and the expatriate community of Greeks, Italians, Russians and French, with their constant political intrigues. Her lively and observant account of life in the declining but still powerful Ottoman empire remains of great interest.

Preface
1. The Golden Horn
2. Difficulty of ingress to Turkish houses
3. Turning dervishes
4. Merchants of Galata
5. The Greek carnival
6. Difficulty of obtaining an insight into Turkish character
7. The harem of Mustafa Effendi
8. Bath-room of Scodra Pasha
9. Cheerful cemeteries
10. Character of Constantinopolitan Greeks
11. The Kourban-Baïram
12. The military college
13. Invitation from Mustapha Pasha of Scodra
14. Procession of betrothal
15. Fine scenery
16. Turkish superstitions
17. Imperial invitations
18. Kahaitchana
19. Easter with the Greeks
20. Feasting after fasting
21. High street of Pera
22. The mosques at midnight
23. Antiquities of Constantinople
24. Balouclè
25. Figurative gratitude of the Seraskier Pasha
26. Repetition
27. Succession of banquets
28. Monotonous entertainments
29. The bridal day
30. A new rejoicing.

Subject Areas: European history [HBJD]