Illustrations de Les navigations, pérégrinations et voyages faicts en la Turquie par Nicolas de Nicolay (1577)
Content: Illustrations of people in the Ottoman Empire including military figures by Nicolas de Nicolay (1517–1583)
SOURCE: BnF Gallica
In 1551, King Henry II of France ordered Nicolas de Nicolay to follow Gabriel d’Aramon (envoy and ambassador to the Grand Turk), during an embassy to Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent. During this trip his mission was to make informal surveys. The mission passed through Malta, Algeria, Tripoli, the Greek islands and Istanbul. He returned with 800 to 900 drawings of sites, cities, islands, ports, castles and fashion.
The original costume plates by Nicolas Nicolay were first published in Nicolay’s work “Les navigations peregrinations et voyages, faicts en la Turquie” (Lyon 1567). It was translated into various languages and left a deep mark on later publications on the same topic. Its success was largely due to the 60 (later expanded to 62) illustrations of the different costumes worn in the area Nicolay visited.
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