TURKEY View of Aydin Guzel Hissar - 1840 Antique Print Engraving by Allom

Description: Guzel Hissar and The Plain of Meander Present Aydin, c50 miles SE from Izmir - Turkey Another Fine Quality Print from Martin2001 Print specifics, condition and a brief narrative at the bottom. Print Specifics: Type of print: Steel engraving - Original antique printYear of printing: not indicated in the print - est. 1840 Original artist/Engraver: Allom / Lacey Publisher: Published by Fisher, Son & Co., London & Paris Condition: 2 (1. Excellent - 2. Very good - 3. Good - 4. Fair)Few light brownish spots pretty much confined to blank margins. Dimensions: 8 x 10.5 inches, including blank margins (borders) around the image. 1 inch = 2,54 cm. Paper weight: 2 (1. Thick - 2. Heavier - 3. Medium heavy - 4. Slightly heavier - 5. Thin)Reverse side: Blank Narrative: The rich valley through which this river winds its way, was formerly filled with many famous cities, and some distinguished for that luxury and effeminacy which a balmy climate and a fertile soil are apt to generate. Tralles and Alabanda sent from hence their swarms of "esurient Greeks," with their cargoes of figs and prunes, to taint the Roman citizens, already sufficiently corrupt. Notwithstanding the desolation which Turkish indolence and barbarism brought into these fertile regions, the active spirit of the ancient Greeks still seems to animate their oppressed descendants. The whole plain is seen by the traveller in the highest state of cultivation: corn, wine, and oil, the evidence and emblem of fatness and fertility, are now abundant here, as in the days of the free Greek cities,pastures covered with sheep and oxen, fields waving with golden crops of wheat, vineyards bending under vast clusters of grape, and gardens shaded by the broad foliage of the fig, are still the prospects which present themselves. In the midst of this abundance is situated the town of Guzel-Hissar, appropriately called " the Castle of Beauty," which its name imports. It lies on a small stream, about ten miles from the Meander, and on an eminence which commands a prospect of the lovely vale through which the river winds its way. Our illustration presents a view of it, with Mount Thorax rising behind it, and the ridges of the Messogeis before itthe wooded plain of the Meander lying between, and spread out under the city. Both seem to partake of the same quality of rank vegetation. Among minarets, and domes, and houses, rise cypress, terebinth, and oriental platanus, so that the whole is a forest of mingled spires and trees; among these, myriads of turtle-doves take up their abode, and they and their progeny, in surprising numbers, covering the branches and roofs, fill the air all day long with their incessant and plaintive cooing. The town is the residence of a pasha, but its edifices have little to boast of; they are mean and ragged, and travellers complain of the caravansaries, as being more comfortless and destitute than even Turkish khans. The inhabitants feel the effects of a rank and exuberant vegetation. During the sultry months, a mal-aria is generated, highly pestilential. The plague sometimes rages with mortal malignity; and the traveller, shut up in a small and naked room of a filthy house, panting with heat and devoured with insects, rather endures any thing within, than walk abroad, and encounter the ghastly and infected objects that stalk along, and carry contagion with them through the streets. Martin2001 Satisfaction Guaranteed Policy! Any print purchased from me may be returned for any (or no) reason for a full refund including all postage. eBay seller since 1998.Five-star service. Powered by eBay Turbo Lister The free listing tool. List your items fast and easy and manage your active items.

Price: 17.54 USD

Location: Manassas, Virginia

End Time: 2024-02-21T23:40:39.000Z

Shipping Cost: 4.45 USD