A Relation of a Iourney begun an: Dom: 1610….Containing a Description of the Turkish Empire, of Ægypt, of the Holy Land, of the Remote Parts of Italy, and Ilands adioyning

1632

de Beer Collection Ec 1632 S

London: Printed for R. Allot

George Sandys (1577-1644), English traveler and poet, was a perceptive observer of the early 17th century Ottoman eastern Mediterranean. I found his incisive written portrayal of the Druze emir of Mount Lebanon, Fakhr al-Din Ma’n, a pivotal personality in the evolution of a distinctive Lebanese entity, very useful for analysis of the mountain’s early modern political configuration in my Lebanon: A History, 600-2011 (New York: Oxford University Press, 2012). Sandys visited Sidon, Fakhr al-Din’s ‘capital,’ in April 1611. He assessed the emir both as a person and a de facto ruler, in realistic description that buttresses and supplements the other sources. Sandys characterizes Fakhr al-Din as ‘small of stature but great in courage and achievements … subtle as a fox, and not a little inclining to the Tyrant. He never commenceth battle, nor executive any notable design, without the consent of his mother.’
(Chosen by Professor Bill Harris, Department of Politics, Otago)