Oriental collection of Levinus Warner, Dutch diplomat in seventeenth-century Istanbul

Diplomat Levinus Warner (1618-1665) was commissioned in 1655 to represent the Dutch interests at the court of the sultan of the Ottoman Empire. His interest in the language and cultures of the Middle East meant that by his death he brough a huge collection of manuscripts from the region together. Besides the collection of Levinus Warner, this beautiful book also traces the history of the Ottoman Empire and the personal history of Levinus Warner, focusing on the interest of Westerners in Istanbul at the point in time.