The Life and Letters of Ogier Ghiselin de Busbecq
Seigneur of Bousbecque, Knight, Imperial Ambassador
2 Volume Set

Ogier Ghiselin de Busbecq (1522–92) was a Flemish herbalist, diplomat and writer. In 1554, Ferdinand I, soon to be Holy Roman Emperor, dispatched him to Suleiman the Magnificent's court as an ambassador to the Ottoman empire, where Busbecq spent years negotiating a border dispute between his employer and the sultan. While there, he also discovered important manuscripts and sent the first tulip bulbs to Europe. He returned to Vienna in 1562, where he acted as counsellor to Ferdinand, after whose death he continued to serve the Habsburgs. This two-volume work, first published in 1881, contains Busbecq's letters, edited and translated into English from Latin by two Cambridge scholars. Volume 1 contains Busbecq's Turkish Letters in addition to a lengthy biography. Volume 2 contains letters written in France to the Holy Roman Emperors Maximilian II and Rudolph II, and an index and appendix to both volumes.

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Product details

• Date Published: August 2012
• format: Multiple copy pack
• isbn: 9781108054577
• length: 788 pages

• dimensions: 216 x 140 x 47 mm
• weight: 1.08kg
• contains: 1 b/w illus. 1 colour illus.
• availability: Out of stock in print form with no current plan to reprint