1885 — Very Good Greek, Modern (post 1453) Original decorative cloth bdg. with Dante's portrait gilt on front board and spine. Black cloth with red decorative borders. Gilt on spine with Greek letters 'Dantou o Paradeisos [.] Metaphrasis Konstantinou Mousourou', and gilt publisher's name in English on lower. A small etiquette on lower spine. Some little wormholes on cloth and several pages. Pages are partly opened, uncut and untrimmed. Slightly faded on cloth's board. A stamp on first page. Otherwise a very good copy. Roy. 8vo. (23 x 16 cm). In Greek (Modern). [xiv], 334 p. 14 p. 'prologos' by Musurus. Konstantinos Mousouros, also known as Kostaki Musurus Pasha, was an Ottoman Greek diplomatic official of the Ottoman Empire who served as ambassador to Greece, Austria, Great Britain, Belgium, and the Netherlands. He was born in 1807 in Constantinople (Istanbul) to a distinguished Phanariote family. His brother, Pavlos Mousouros, also became a diplomat. Mousouros became the first ambassador of the Ottoman Empire to the newly independent Kingdom of Greece in 1840, a position he kept until 1848. In 1847-48 he was a central figure in the events known as Mousourika (??????????), which led to his temporary recall and the breakdown of relations between the two states. On his return to Athens he survived an assassination attempt, leading to his transfer to Vienna. In 1850 he took up the post of Ottoman ambassador to the Great Britain and Ireland, which he kept for 35 consecutive years, until his retirement in 1885. During the same period, he also served as ambassador to the Netherlands (1861-77) and Belgium (1861-75). In 1876-78, he was ex officio a member of the short-lived Senate of the Ottoman Empire. Well educated, in 1883 Mousouros translated Dante's Divine Comedy into ancient Greek. He was married and had a son, Stephanos Mousouros, who later became Prince of Samos. (Wikipedia). He is known as the first translator of Dante's Divine Comedy into modern Greek. Musurus Pasha had an intellectual identity. One of the most important occupations of Musurus Pasha in the last years was the translation of Dante's Divine Comedy from Italian to Greek. Being able to translate a work of Italian classics and masterpieces of western literature should be an indication of Musurus Pasha's performance and intellectual dimension. Due to negative statements about Muhammad and Ali in Dante's work, the book was not allowed to be published within the Ottoman Imperial borders. Despite this, Musurus Pasha asked him to be permitted to publish his translation, but it was not accepted. (Source: Bir Tanzimat diplomati Kostaki Musurus Pasa, (1807-1891)., NURDAN SAFAK). Dante's Divine Comedy, originally called Comedia, and later christened Divina by Giovanni Boccaccio, is widely considered the most important poem of the Middle Ages and the greatest literary work in the Italian language. This is only 'Paradiso' book from the set. It's signed and inscribed by Musurus Pasha with a dedication in French to Monseigneur Auguste Bonetti as "A la grandeur Monseigneur Bonetti, Hommage de veneration, Musurus". Bonetti was, in 1887, after the appointment of Monsignor Rotelli to the Vatican Ambassador to Paris, the new Constantinople patriarch appointed by Rome for him. First Greek Edition. Extremely rare.
