THE SULTAN'S LIBRARY.
[To THE EDITOR Or TER " SPECTATOR:I Sin,—The letters of your correspondents in last week's issue under the above heading are of great interest; there is every probability of the existence of priceless treasures of all sorts being stored away in the recesses of the old magasins and storehouses of Constantinople. This is not hard to under- stand if we remember the amount of loot which fell to the share of the conquering Turkish Sultans in the days when the Crescent was the terror of Eastern Europe. When I was in Constantinople in the spring of 1887 I was told that (on account of some complimentary message sent by the munici- pality of Buda-Pesth on his birthday) the Sultan had directed that the library which had been looted from Perth during the long Turkish occupation (ending 1686) should be collected and returned to the city. The storehouses of Constantinople were being ransacked for the books, and a certain number had been found. Amongst the hidden or forgotten treasures which were brought to light by the search were all the presents which had been sent to the then Sultan_ by Louis XIV., and they had not even been unpacked.—I am,
Previous page
