Engaging the Ottoman Empire: Vexed Mediations, 1690-1815

In the long eighteenth century, Daniel O Quinn explores the complex relationships between Europeans and Ottomans, focusing on the conflict leading to the 1699 Treaty of Karlowitz and the 1815 bid for Greek independence. He examines a mixed archive of drawings, maps, letters, dispatches, memoirs, travel narratives, engravings, paintings, poems, and architecture to demonstrate how the Ottoman state was both a subject of historical curiosity and a foil against Western theories of governance. Through sustained and detailed case studies of particular objects, personalities, and historical contexts, he frames intercultural encounters between East and West through key concerns such as translation, mediation, sociability, and hospitality.

Format: Unspecified
Length: 496 pages
Publication date: 28 November 2023
Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press

Daniel O Quinn delves into the intricate web of interpersonal, political, and aesthetic connections between Europeans and Ottomans throughout the long eighteenth century. Anchoring his analysis with key events such as the 1699 Treaty of Karlowitz and the 1815 bid for Greek independence, he traces the journeys of notable British, Dutch, and French diplomats to the Sublime Porte of the Ottoman Empire. Through a meticulous examination of a diverse archive encompassing drawings, maps, letters, dispatches, memoirs, travel narratives, engraved books, paintings, poems, and architecture, O Quinn showcases the profound interest in the Ottoman state among Europeans and its role as a significant counterpoint to Western governance theories. By juxtaposing narrative accounts of diplomatic life in Constantinople, such as those found in the letters of Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, the wife of the English ambassador, with visual representations by the French-Flemish painter Jean Baptiste Vanmour, he traces the spread of European representations and interpretations of the Ottoman Empire across eighteenth-century material culture. Presented in a series of eight interconnected chapters, O Quinn offers in-depth case studies of specific objects, personalities, and historical contexts, exploring intercultural encounters between East and West through key themes such as translation, mediation, sociability, and hospitality. Rife with rich illustrations and compelling arguments, Engaging the Ottoman Empire compellingly demonstrates the significance of studying the Ottoman world in understanding the complexities of European modernity.

Weight: 982g
Dimension: 168 x 248 x 30 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781512825534