CRUSIUS (Martin). Turcogræciæ libri octo. Basel, Leonhard Ostein at the expense of Sebastian Henricpetri, [1584]. In-folio, granite calf, gilt heraldic shells at the corners, spine decorated with repeated masses of arms and shells, red edges (18th century binding). Very rare first edition of this essential source on Greek life in the sixteenth century. The German humanist Martin Crusius (1526-1607), professor at the University of Tübingen, maintained an abundant correspondence with numerous Greek dignitaries and intellectuals of the Patriarchate of Constantinople, such as Theodosius Zygomalas, whose letters are included in the present work and provide precious details of the daily life, customs, vernacular, etc., of the Byzantine Greeks of his time. The dissemination of these correspondences gave rise to the first movement of philhellenism in the learned Europe of the time. "The work is all the more interesting since most Greek scholars of this period and later were not interested in Greece after the Turkish conquest" (Blackmer). The work is printed in two columns in Greek and Latin translation, and annotated in Latin by Crusius. The appendix, on pp. 541-557, is complete. The woodcut illustrations include the printer's mark on the title (repeated at the end of the text and appendix), a portrait of the author on the verso, a full-page engraving depicting the ancient dress of the emperors of Constantinople, and a number of figures and inscriptions engraved in the text. A copy bound with the arms and insignia of Chancellor d'Aguesseau (1785, n°5138). Henri-François d'Aguesseau (1668-1751), Chancellor of France from 1717 to 1750, Keeper of the Seals and member of the Académie des Sciences, had built up one of the most remarkable libraries of his time, containing over 20,000 works, which was bequeathed to his eldest son Henri-François-de-Paule (1698-1764), then dispersed on the death of his second son, Jean-Baptiste-Paulin (1701-1784). From the library of Abbé Rive (1793, no. 1691), with a handwritten note signed on one endpaper. "According to François Moureau, the irascible bibliographer Jean-Joseph Rive (1730-1791) was the librarian of the Duc de La Vallière from 1768 to 1780. Heads and corners worn, hinges split, small rectangular cut in title (affecting the typographical surround on verso), some foxing. Blackmer, n°428 - Göllner, n°1770 - Atabey (cat. sale II, 2002), n°1392.