Letters Writ By a Turkish Spy

Giovanni P. Marana, author of the letters in this volume was an Italian living in France in the seventeenth century. He wrote in the character of a Turk visiting Paris. Marana was probably the first writer to use the device of a series of letters written by a visitor to a foreign country in order to comment satirically on contemporary politics, culture, religion and philosophy. Disguised as a Moldavian priest, Mahmut, the letter-writer, is in Paris on a mission to spy on the Christians and to send secret letters in Arabic to the Turkish Court. He is an acute observer of the courts of Louis XIII and XIV, the disastrous politics and wars of the seventeenth century, the crude manner and superstitions of the Europeans and the seamy side of France in le grand siècle. One of the first and most compelling spy stories ever written, and immensely popular throughout the eighteenth century, this reprint (originally published in 1970) has been edited and selected by Arthur J. Weitzman, who provides a critical introduction and notes.

List of contents

Introduction. The Letters: Volume I, Book I, Letters I, VIII, IX, XI, XXVIII,
Volume I, Book II, Letters IX, X, XII, XVII,
Volume I, Book III, Letters, XI, XIX
Volume I, Book IV, Letters VII, XVIII, XXIV
Volume II, Book I, Letters XII, XXIV, XXVI, XXVII, XXXIV
Volume II, Book III, Letters I, XVIII, XXIII, XXV, XXXIV
Volume III, Book I, Letters III, V, X, XXVII
Volume III, Book II, Letters X, XVI, XVII, XXVIII
Volume IV, Book II, Letters XIX
Volume IV, Book III, Letters I, IV
Volume IV, Book IV, Letters III, IX, XIV
Volume V, Book I, Letters XI, XIII
Volume V, Book II, Letters II, XVI, XIX
Volume V, Book III, Letter I
Volume V, Book IV, Letters IX, XIII, XV
Volume VI, Book I, Letters I, II
Volume VI, Book II, Letters VII, X, XII, XIX, XX
Volume VI, Book III, Letters VII, XIV, XVIII, XIX
Volume VI, Book IV, Letters IV, XVII
Volume VII, Book I, Letters I, II, XII, XVII
Volume VII, Book II, Letters III, IV,
Volume VII, Book III, Letters VIII, XII
Volume VII, Book IV, Letters I, III, V
Volume VIII, Book II, Letters XI, XIII
Volume VIII, Book IIII, Letter XII
Volume VIII, Book IV, Letters VIII, XIII, XVIII.
Bibliography.

Product details

• Authors: Giovanni P. Marana
• Assisted by: Arthur J. Weitzman (Editor)
• Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd.
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Release: 01.11.2025
• EAN: 9781041159711
• ISBN: 978-1-0-4115971-1
• No. of pages: 256
• Series: Routledge Revivals
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > Linguistics and literary studies > General and comparative literary studies; French, HISTORY / Europe / France, LITERARY CRITICISM / European / Italian, HISTORY / Historiography, LITERARY COLLECTIONS / European / Italian, LITERARY CRITICISM / Modern / General, Literature: history & criticism, Italian, Early modern history: c 1450/1500 to c 1700, Literary studies: fiction, novelists and prose writers, Literary studies: c 1600 to c 1800, History and Archaeology, Literature: history and criticism, Modern Period, C 1500 Onwards, Classic fiction: literary and general, Epistolary fiction / fictional diaries