Chapter II: Preface: Of the

TRANSLATOR.

_It is customary upon a Translation to give some Account both of the Author, and his Writings. The Author_ Petrus Gyllius, _as he stands enroll’d among the Men of Eminency, and Figure in polite Learning, I find to be a Native of_ Albi, _in_ France. _He was in great Reputation in the sixteenth Century, and was look’d upon as a Writer of so good a Taste, and so comprehensive a_ Genius, _that there was scarce any thing in the polite Languages, which had escap’d him. As he had a particular Regard for Men of distinguished Learning, so was he equally honour’d, and esteem’d by them._ Francis _the First, King of_ France, _the great Patron of Literature, and who was also a good Judge of his Abilities, sent him into_ Italy, _and_ Greece, _to make a Collection of all the choice Manuscripts which had never been printed, but in his Passage it was his Misfortune to be taken by the_ Corsairs. _Some Time after, by the Application and Generosity of Cardinal_ d’Armanac, _he was redeem’d from Slavery. The just Sense this munificent Patron had of his Merit, incited him, when my Author had finish’d more than fourty Years Travels over all_ Greece, Asia, _and the greatest Part of_ Africa, _in the Search of Antiquity, to receive him into his Friendship, and Family; where, while he was digesting, and methodizing his Labours for the Service of the Publick, he dy’d in the Year 1555, and in the_ 65ᵗʰ _Year of his Age_.

_Although it was his Intention to have published all the Learned Observations he had made in his Travels, yet he liv’d to give us only a Description of the_ Bosporus, Thrace, _and_ Constantinople, _with an Account of the_ Antiquities _of each of those Places. In his Search of what was curious he was indefatigable, and had a perfect Knowledge of it in all its Parts. He had also translated into_ Latin Theodore_’s Commentaries on the_ Minor Prophets, _and sixteen Books of_ Ælian_’s_ History of Animals. Petrus Belonius _is highly reflected upon, in that being his Domestick, and a Companion with him in his Travels, he took the Freedom to publish several of his Works under his own Name: And indeed such a flagrant Dishonesty in acting the Plagiary in so gross a manner, was justly punish’d with the most severe Censures; since it had been Merit enough to have deserv’d the Praises of the Learned World for Publishing such valuable Pieces, with an honourable Acknowledgment of the Author of them_.

_I have no Occasion to vindicate the Worth and Credit of my Author, whose Fame will live, and flourish, while the Characters given him by_ Gronovius, Thuanus, Morreri, Tournefort, _and_ Montfaucon _are of any Weight. These Great Men have recorded him to future Times, for his deep Insight into_ Natural _Knowledge, his unweary’d Application to the Study of_ Antiquity, _and his great Accuracy and Exactness in Writing_.

_In the following Treatise, the Reader has before him a full and lively View of one of the most magnificent Cities in the Universe; stately, and beautiful in its Natural Situation, improv’d with all the Art and Advantages of fine Architecture, and furnished with the most costly Remains of Antiquity; so that_ New Rome, _in many Instances of that Kind, may seem to excell the_ Old.

_I hope my Author will not be thought too particular and exact in describing the several Hills and Vales, upon which_ Constantinople _stands, when it is consider’d, that he is delineating_ the Finest Situation in the World.

_The Manner in which he treats on this Subject is very entertaining; and his Descriptions, though with the greatest Regard to Truth, are embellish’d with a Grace and Beauty, almost Poetical. This, I look upon it, was occasion’d by the agreeable Variety of delightful Prospects and Situations, which the Subject naturally led him to describe._

_The present State of_ Constantinople, _I mean as to the Meanness and Poverty of its Buildings, is attested by all those, who have either seen, or wrote concerning it; so that ’tis not_ Now _to be compar’d with it self, as it stood in its Antient Glory. The_ Turks _have such an Aversion to all that is curious in Learning, or magnificent in Architecture, or valuable in Antiquity, that they have made it a Piece of Merit, for above 200 Years, to demolish, and efface every thing of that Kind; so that this Account of the_ Antiquities _of that City given us by_ Gyllius, _is not only the_ Best, _but indeed the_ Only _collective History of them_.

_In tracing out the Buildings of Old_ Byzantium, _the antient_ Greek _Historians, which he perfectly understood, were of great Service to him; this, with his own personal Observations, as residing for some Years at_ Constantinople, _furnish’d him with Materials sufficient for the present History_.

_The Curious, who have always admir’d the Accuracy of this Work of_ Gyllius, _have yet been highly concern’d, that it wanted the Advantage of Cuts, by which the Reader might have the agreeable Pleasure of surveying with the Eye, what my Author has so exactly describ’d with the Pen_.

_I have therefore endeavour’d to supply this Defect, by presenting to the View of the Reader a Collection of Figures, which do not only refer to such Curiosities as be will find mention’d in the several Parts of my Author, but such as have been describ’d by other later Travellers; and by this Means I hope I have given a compleat View of whatsoever is most remarkable in the_ Antiquities of Constantinople. _The Catalogue and Order of the Cuts is as follows_;

I. _The_ Thracian Bosporus, _with the Situation of_ Constantinople, _as antiently divided into_ Wards; _from_ Du Fresne.

II. _A Delineation of that City, as it stood in the Year 1422, before it was taken by the_ Turks; _from the same_.

III. _The Ichnography, or Plan of the Church of_ Sancta Sophia; _from the same_.

IV. _The whole View of the Church of_ Sancta Sophia; _from the same_.

V. _The outside Prospect of that Church; from the same._

VI. _The inside View of it; from the same._

VII. _The Plan of the Church of the Apostles; from Sir_ George Wheler.

VIII. _The antient_ Hippodrom, _with the_ Thebæan Obelisk, _and the Engines by which it was erected; from_ Spon _and_ Wheler.

IX. _The Three Pillars_, viz. _the Serpentine and Porphyry Pillars, standing in the_ Hippodrom, _as described by_ Gyllius, _with the Pillar of the Emperor_ Marcian, _since discover’d by_ Spon _and_ Wheler _in a private Garden; from_ B. Randolph.

X. _The Historical Pillar, described by_ Gyllius, _and since by_ Tournefort; _from_ Du Fresne.

XI. _A View of the Seraglio Point, with a Representation of the present Imperial Palace, and the Church of_ Sancta Sophia; _from_ B. Randolph.

_When this Impression was almost finished, a learned Gentleman of the University of_ Oxon, _to whom my best Acknowledgments are due, communicated to me a valuable Passage, relating to the Statues of_ Constantinople, _demolished by the_ Romans, _which he transcribed from the Second Book of_ Nicetas Choniat, _a_ MS. _in the_ Bodl. Lib. _I have added a Translation of it by way of_ Appendix; _and I presume that the Reader will look upon it as a curious and an agreeable Entertainment_.

CONTENTS.

_The Preface of the Author, describing the Situation of_
Constantinople, _the Conveniencies of its Port, and the
Commodities in which it abounds_, Page 1