Harem by Penzer: First Edition (14 results)

Hard Cover. Condition: Fine. Dust Jacket Condition: Near Fine. First Edition. A clean, unmarked book with a tight binding. Slight wear to dust jacket. 276 pages. Keywords: Turkish Harem, Women's Quarters, Grand Seraglio, Imperial Palace, Courts, Living Quarters, Reception Rooms, Kitchens, Storehouses, Baths, Mosques, Dungeons, Daily Life, Eunuchs. …

Condition: Good. 1967. First Edition. 276 pages. Black pictorial dust jacket over red cloth. Pages are moderately tanned and thumbed at the edges, with moderate foxing. Binding has remained firm. Boards are a little rub worn, slight shelf wear to corners, spine and edges. Corners are a little bumped. Spine ends are mildly crushed. Light wear to unclipped dust jacket with tears, nicks and creases to spine, edge and corners. Light tanning to spine and edges.…

Hardcover. Condition: Fine. Dust Jacket Condition: Near Very Fine. First Edition. Large, sturdy book, red covers, very bright gilt lettering on spine, 277 pages, many illustrations throughout. DJ glossy light rose background, a stunning color-illustration of a harem at center front. DJ has tiny crease at bottom back tip. Near Very Fine DJ/Very Fine book.…

Hardcover. First Edition Thus; Second Impression. Book condition is Very Good; with a Very Good dust jacket. Toning. Edge wear and rubbing to jacket. Text is clean and unmarked, illustrated. ; Small 4to 9" - 11" tall.

Hard Cover. Condition: Very Good. Dust Jacket Condition: Good. Third Impression. Dust wrapper rubbed and a little ragged at edges. Red cloth with bright gilt lettering to spine, slight fading. End paper some marks. 260 pages clean and tight. In western minds the word harem has always tended to arouse visions of an Arabian Nights world of luxury, violence and dissipation. In view of the mystery and secrecy which has for centuries veiled the subject it is hardly surprising that fact has generally been outweighed by fantasy. The merit of Mr. Penzer's' book, which was originally published a bare quarter of a century after the Turkish harm came to an ignominious end, is that without minimising the sensational and unpleasant aspects of the system he presents an authoritative, objective account of its history over a period of 450 years. The term Izarem properly refers to the . women's quarters which formed only one part of the vast social, political and administrative unit represented by the Grand Seraglio or Imperial Palace. Mr. Penzer takes readers on a conducted tour of those portions of the palace which were open for his inspection; with the aid of photographs, engravings and a ground plan, he skilfully reconstructs the huge network of courts, living quarters, reception rooms, kitchens, storehouses, baths, mosques, and dungeons which made up this miniature empire. Daily life in this artificial community, so completely cut off from the realities of the outside world, was for the most part monotonous and uneventful, but occasionally it erupted into drama, violence and horror. Some of the incredible stories of the Seraglio have been attested as fact, and the author includes vivid descriptions of some of its worst excesses-the decades of solitary confinement endured by the brothers of Muhammed III, the orgies and crimes of the half-crazed Ibrahim, the mutilation of the eunuchs, and the frequent murders of the harem women, three hundred of them being drowned in the Bosphorus on one occasion. Elsewhere the author provides a colourful picture of the elaborate hierarchy of the Seraglio personnel-the all-powerful mother of the Sultan, the strangely-clad Janissaries, the black eunuchs, the white eunuchs, and the harem women, only a few of whom ever achieved wealth or high rank; and he provides cogent reasons for the collapse of the system, coincidental with the gradual decline of Turkish power, a relic of feudalism which lasted until modern times. Size: 7" By 10" Tall. B/W Photographs & Illustrations (illustrator).…

Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. First Edition. VG, 1st ed, 1936, 43 illustrations. In contemporary black cloth, corners lightly bumped, arabic script in gilt to front center. Rebacked, with old spine laid down, faded slightly, gilt title, edges bumped. Internally, half title, frontis, [2], [4], 5-276 pp, [1], 43 illustrations, hinges strengthened, printed by R&R Clark, Ltd, Edinburgh, bookplate to fpd (Leigh Ogden), light edge browning to title page, complete as called for. A nice example. (243*173 mm). (The Turk and Islam in the Western Eye, 1450-1750: edited by James G. Harper). Title continues: An account of the Institution as it existed in the Palace of the Turkish Sultans with a History of the Grand Seraglio from its foundation to the present time. …

Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. First Edition. 8vo. Pp. 277. No dust jacket. Black cloth, gilt titles, light fade to spine and light rubbing to the cloth in a couple of places, boards lightly bowed but overall a very good, clean copy. With numerous folding maps and illustrations in black and white.

First edition. 4to. Cloth. 277 pp. 43 illustrations maps and plans, some folding. Very good, back hinge starting, boards slightly bowed.

Condition: Very Good. First edition. Hardback. Original black cloth slightly worn and marked, later rebacked. Very good. No dust jacket.

Hardcover. Condition: Good. No Dust Cover. First Edition. Good Hardcover, red cloth, Illustrated throughout including foldouts, some wear to corners and spine, 277 pages +index.

1st edition. In black cloth with gilt; B&W illustrations (some folding). Owners' names dated '44 on front free end paper; end papers lightly foxed; hinges cracked & repaired; some wear to spine Used - Good. Good hardback (no dust jacket).

First Edition. THE HAREM, Lippincott, 1935, first edition (American issue), a bright vg/vg+ copy in a worn but still presentable dust-wrapper with 35 half-tone illustrations, 7 photogravure plates and a plan. An account of the institution as it existed in the palace of the Turkish sultans with a history of the Grand Seraglio from it's foundations to the present time.…

Cloth. Condition: Very Good Indeed. Dust Jacket Condition: Good. First edition. The author's presentation copy of this intriguing historical study of the 'Harem' of Constantinople, based on the author's time spent visiting the grand and mysterious palace. Bound in the publisher's original cloth with the original, unclipped dust wrapper. The author's presentation copy, gifting the work to H. M. Burton, dated 1943. This interesting work surrounds the history of the harem of the Sultans of Turkey, with the author detailing his visits to the Seraglio palace in 1933 and 1934. This unique insight allows him to describe the entire palace, court by court, as well as an exploration of Seraglio Point, the area on which the palace stands. Written by Norman Mosley Penzer, a British independent scholar and Fellow of the Royal Geographical society. Illustrated with forty-three plates, three of which are folding. Collated, complete. Bound in the publisher's original cloth with the original, unclipped dust wrapper. Externally, excellent, with light bumping to the extremities and the odd mark to cloth. Offsetting to endpapers, with an ink inscription to the front endpaper. The odd mark to fore edge. Dust wrapper is sound with chipping to the extremities causing slight loss, heavier to the head and tail of the spine. Wrap is lightly soiled, with sunning to the spine and handling marks. Internally, firmly bound. Pages are generally very bright, with the occasional area of spotting. Very Good Indeed. Not Stated (illustrator). signed by author. book.…

Hardcover. Condition: Good. Dust Jacket Condition: Poor. First Edition. "Built in 1459-1465 on one of the finest sites in the world, the harem of the Sultans of Turkey in Constantinople gradually rose to be the most mysterious, dreaded and unapproachable place in existence. So jealously have its secrets been guarded during the whole period of its existence, that even after the Sultans ceased to reside there, in the middle of the 19th century, the harem still remained as unknown as before. [This book] lifts the veil of secrecy that has hung so long over this forbidden place and lays bare for the first time what strange things lay hidden beneath." - dust jacket. [4]-277 p. Index. Large fold-out plan at back. With thirty-five illustrations in half-tone and seven photogravure plates. Undated but appears to be circa 1937. Book tight and unmarked with average wear to original red cloth decorated in gilt. Very heavy wear to dust jacket now in glossy new archival-grade protection. Three relevant vintage news clippings laid in. A sound example of this fascinating treatise. ; 8vo.…