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The Authorship of The Turkish Spy

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 December 2020

William H. McBurney
William H. McBurney*
Affiliation:
College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, Va.
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Extract

L'espion du Grand-Seigneur or Letters Writ by a Turkish Spy, perhaps best known as the work which inspired Montesquieu's Lettres persanes, is usually considered the beginning of the “foreign spy” convention in English literature. Modern readers of the six French (or eight English) duodecimo volumes may be puzzled to discover its appeal. When the collection of letters first appeared, however, it was immediately termed “un tour d'esprit … & une fiction ingénieuse”; the eighteenth-century reading public welcomed it as written with “beaucoup d'agrément, & d'une variété fort amusante,” and “as instructive and delightful, as the Manner of finding it was strange and surprizing.”

Type
Research Article
Information
PMLA , Volume 72 , Issue 5 , December 1957 , pp. 915 - 935
Copyright
Copyright © Modern Language Association of America, 1957

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References

1 Pierre Bayle, Nouvelles de la république des lettres, Mars 1684, 2nd ed. (Amsterdam: Henry Des Bordes, 1686), p. 89; Abbé Lenglet du Fresnoy, De l'usage des romans (Paris, 1734), ii, 84–85; “To the Reader,” The First Volume of Letters Writ by a Turkish Spy …, 22nd ed. (London: Printed for George Strahan …, 1734).

2 Robert Adams Day, “The Epistolary Technique in English Prose Fiction, 1660–1740” (unpub. diss., Harvard, 1952), passim.

3 Continuation of Letters Written by a Turkish Spy at Paris (London: Printed for William Taylor, 1718) is attributed to Defoe by W. P. Trent, CBEL, ix, 21. The same source also tentatively attributes to Defoe a work by “Kara Selym Oglan,” The Conduct of Christians Made Sport of Infidels in a Letter from a Turkish Merchant at A msterdam to the Grand Mufti at Constantinople (1717).

4 The German Spy, according to the DNB, was edited by Thomas Lediard, probably from Karl Ludwig von Pöllnitz' Lettres saxonnes (1738); The Jewish Spy is a translation of Lettres juives (1736, 1738) by the Marquis d'Argens, also author of Lettres chinoises (1739–40) which deals with a Chinese traveler in Paris.

5 Arthur Bateman, Notes and Queries, 4th Ser., viii (Nov. 1871), 414–415. He bases his speculation upon a passage in Vol. iv (Bk. i, Letter 5) of the English editions: “In process of Time, a certain Priest, in the middle of his bloody Sacrifice, taking up a piece of the broiled Flesh which had fallen from the Altar on the Ground, and, burning his Fingers therewith, suddenly clap'd them to his Mouth to mitigate the Pain. But, when he had once tasted the Sweetness of the Fat, not only long'd for more of it, but gave a Piece to his Assistant, and he to others: Who all, pleased with the new found Dainties fell to eating of Flesh greedily. And hence this Species of Gluttony was taught to Mortals.” One might also cite the passage, in the same volume, on the happy isolation of the Aethiopian princes (Bk. ii, Letter 16) as a possible parallel to Johnson's Rasselas.

6 Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris, Salle des Manuscrits, Fonds italiens, #1006.

7 The original French title was L'espion du Grand-Seigneur, et ses relations secrètes envoyées au Divan de Constantinople, découvertes à Paris pendant le règne de Louys le Grand, traduites de l'arabe en italien par le Sieur Jean-Paul Marana, et de l'italien en françois par. Ces relations contiennent les evenmens les plus considérables de la chrestienlé & de la France depuis l'année 1637 jusques en l'année 1682. The duodecimo volume contained 285 pages.

8 Nouvelles de la république des lettres, p. 89. The fact that Des Bordes was also publisher of Nouvelles … may, however, make Bayle's convenient declaration of the publishers' agreement questionable.

9 Bibliothèque Nationale, Salle des Manuscrits, Fonds italiens, #1007.

10 Charpentier declares Marana the author of The Turkish Spy and reproduces a certificate, dated 28 Sept. 1686, in which Marana, “auteur du livre Manuscrit Italien intitulé L'Esploratore Turco Tomo Terzo,” promises to remove the four passages “en sorte qu'il n'en reste aucun vestige” (quoted in Carpentariana, ou remarques d'histoire, de morale, de critique, d'érudition, et de bons mots de M. Charpentier de l'Académie françoise, Paris: Nicolas le Breton, fils, 1724). Isaac Disraeli believes that “these rescindings of the Censor appear to be marked by Marana in the printed work. We find more than once chasms, with these words: ‘the beginning of this letter is wanting in the Italian translation; the original paper being torn’” (.Curiosities of Literature, 14th ed., London, 1849, i, 421).

11 Entered in the Stationers' Register, 27 April 1687.

12 Literary Anecdotes of the Eighteenth Century (London, 1812), ii, 413, n.

13 For data on advertisements in The Present State of Europe and other journals see Alphaeus W. Smith, “Collections and Notes of Prose Fiction in England, 1660–1714” (unpub. diss., Harvard, 1930).

14 I have found only one Dutch or Flemish translation—that of H. Grettinga of the first 2 English volumes, published in 1699 by Robert Blokland, Amsterdam, and entitled Brieven, geschreven door een Turkse Spion. … Both volumes, incidentally, are dedicated to Antoine Heinsius, pensionary of Delft, who became one of the chief statesmen of the last period of the reign of William III of England.

15 For example, Isuf becomes Fousi and Carcoa, Racoa; William Vospel is reduced to “un Chrétien Allemand” and Hasnadarbassy to the “premier Trésorier.” An amusing metamorphosis is that of Berber Mustafa Aga (Paris ed., 1684) through Mustapha Berber Aga and sometimes Mustapha, Berber Aga (London, 1691) into “Au Barbier du Grand-Seigneur” (Cologne, 1696).

16 The city of Cologne was then governed by a Catholic Archbishop-Elector and allied with France. The heretical, subversive, and scurrilous nature of the books which appeared from “Cologne” presses seems to point to the Low Countries which, with Switzerland, had become the usual refuge of political and religious exiles. The Cologne pressmarks of Pierre Marteau, Jean de la Vérité, Pierre le Jeune, and Jaques le Galliard (“A Parme”) have all been identified as from Amsterdam presses. Lenglet du Fresnoy, however, says of 2 Kinkius editions of The Turkish Spy, “Cologne (c'est-à-dire Paris) 1697” and “Cologne (c'est-à-dire Rouen) 1710.”

17 In 1741 J. Du Fresne de Francheville published at “Londres” L'espion turc à Francfort pendant la diète & le couronnement de l'Empereur en 1741. The British Museum catalogue identifies this “Londres” as Holland.

18 In 1748 Nicolas van Daalen at the Hague published Le Nouvel espion … pour servir de suite & de supplément à l'espion. These 49 letters, dating from 1691 to 1697, when added to the already augmented 1742 “Londres” edition, brought the total to 9 volumes containing 744 letters. All were published in Amsterdam in 1756.

19 In 1711 W. Bishop wrote to Dr. Arthur Charlett of Oxford asking for information about Bradshaw, “The Author of all the volumes of the Turkish Spy but one.” According to Bishop, “Dr. Midgley had only the name and conveyance to the press, besides what books he helped Bradshaw to” (John Aubrey, ed. Letters Written by Eminent Persons …, London, 1813, Letter lxxxiv).

20 “He [Manley] was likewise author of the first volume of that admired work.… One Dr. Midgley, an ingenious physician, related to the family by marriage, had the charge of looking over his papers. Amongst them he found that manuscript, which he reserved to his proper use, and by his own pen, and the assistance of some others, continued the work till the eighth volume was finished, without having the honesty to acknowledge the author of the first” (Lives of the Poets, London, 1753, iv, 4–5).

21 The Life of Samuel Johnson, LL.D., ed. G. B. Hill, rev. and enl. by L. F. Powell (Oxford, 1934), iv, 199–200.

22 Quoted by Joseph Hunter from a manuscript, “Ephemeris Vitae Abrahami Pryme” in Gentleman's Mag., N.S., xv (April 1841), 372–373.

23 See Notes and Queries, 5th Ser., xii (1 Nov. 1879), 353b.

24 Sir Roger Manley, who died in 1687, was the author of at least 3 translated or original publications dealing with geographical or military topics.

25 Gentleman's Mag., N.S., xv (March 1841), 270a.

26 Quoted by Bolton Corney, Gentleman's Mag., N.S., xiv (Sept. 1840), 260–263.

27 “Mémoires sur la Vie & les Ouvrages de Gio: Paolo Marana, Auteur de l'Espion Turc,” Journal de Verdun, lxxv (Paris, Oct. 1754), 271–282. Dreux du Radier was a friend of François Pidou, sieur de St. Olon, who had been gentilhomme ordinaire to Louis XIV, special envoy to Genoa in 1682, and later Marana's patron and translator. Radier's 2 articles, which appeared in the Journal de Verdun in Sept. and Oct. of 1754, are the most complete and reliable sources of information on Marana.

28 Dictionnaire des ouvrages anonymes et pseudonymes (Paris, 1874), Vol. ii, s.v. #5351.

29 Nouveau dictionnaire des ouvrages anonymes et pseudonymes, 3rd ed. (Lyon, 1868), p. 129b, Item 1448; Les supercheries littéraires dévoilées, 2nd ed. (Paris, 1882), ii, 1046.

30 Frequent references to Naples, Calabria, and Sicily may indicate residence in that area.

31 Apparently the son or grandson of the more famous Ambrosio de Espinola, who was born in Genoa in 1571 and rose to power in Spain under Philip II and Philip III.

32 Marana's friendship with Père de la Chaise may be the source of William Cushing's unique description of him as a Jesuit whose works have been “characterized as ‘speculating very freely on all subjects under a mask of bigotry‘” (Initials and Pseudonyms: A Dictionary of Literary Disguises, New York, 1885, p. 181b).

33 The manuscript dedication (dated 1689) of Marana's Les evenmens speaks of hopes transmitted to him “per mezzo di Monsig1. Arcivescovo di Parigi che io sarei impiegato a travagliare sopra qualche materie historiche.”

34 The Bibliothèque Nationale has a manuscript (Fonds italiens #862) entitled Il trionfo di Parigi e le più nobile azioni della vita del Rè contenute in tre lettere che l'autore scrive alla sua patria (234 pp.). The 3 letters, addressed to “Cara Patria” and dated 1687, are apparently an earlier draft of the first 10 letters of Le più nobili azioni which Dreux du Radier says consisted of 2 manuscript volumes totaling 36 letters (504 and 426 pp.).

35 The “jugement” is very pro-Jacobite, lamenting at length the flight of James II and his queen and declaring “une noble indignation contre l'Usurpateur Orange.” Possibly de la Boullaye's book of travels (Paris, 1653) provided Marana with some of his information on Constantinople, Ispahan, and Goa.

36 Du Radier, Journal de Verdun, lxxv, 282. Lenglet du Fresnoy, however, says that Marana died in Paris (De l'usage des romans, ii, 85).

37 The Abbé Valentin Dufour in his introduction to Lettre d'un sicilien à un de ses amis (Paris, 1883), a work which he attributes to Marana, points out that the Italian surname closely resembles the Old French word meaning “Maure converti.”

38 i, i, 20. This and all following references are to the volume, “book,” and letter numbers of the English edition of 1691–94.

39 i, i, 20; i, iii, 2; i, v, 2; iii, iii, 19. Livy was one of the announced models for Le piu nobili azioni.

40 “I had nothing but my Seneca with me” (i, i, 20). Later when Mahmut is arrested in Paris he has in his pockets works by Seneca, Averroës, St. Augustine, and a copy of the Koran (ii, iii, 34). He also writes “Stoical” letters, such as iv, iv, 7.

41 i, i, 5; ii, ii, 13; viii, iii, 13; viii, iv, 9.

42 i, iii, 17; v, iii, 9; viii, iv, 9.

43 The following additional figures who are subjects of portraits in the Entretiens gallery also appear in The Turkish Spy: Don Sebastian, King of Portugal (i, iv, 22; i, iv, 25); the Maréchal de Biron (i, ii, 20; ii, i, 29); Henri IV (i, ii, 14; vi, i, 4); Gustavus Adolphus (i, i, 16; iii, iii, 11); Wallenstein (ii, i, 2); Don Juan, Duke of Braganza (i, iv, 24, 25); Marie de Medicis (ii, iv, 5, 6); Licungus and the Emperor Tsunchin (iii, iii, 6); Ibrahim and Amurat IV (i, iii, 26; ii, i, 23; iii, iii, 2, 19, 21; iv, iii, 9); and Casimir V of Poland (i, i, 25, 26; v, ii, 17).

44 Technical errors in the letters which deal with English politics are discussed by J. Roche (Gentleman's Mag., N.S., xiv, Nov. 1840, 374–378). He “never could discover in them the slightest trace of English feeling or national figures” and declares that they are characterized by “grossest ignorance of persons and facts” when they deal with England.

45 i, iv, 7; ii, iii, 23; vi, iii, 7, 8; vii, i, 12; vii, i, 17.

46 i, iv, 7; ii, iii, 7; v, i, 10; v, iv, 4; vii, ii, 5.

47 i, iv, 6; ii, i, 28; ii, iii, 2; iv, ii, 19; vi, iv, 9; vi, iv, 18; vii, i, 14.

48 De l'usage des romans, ii, 85: “Les trois premiers volumes valent beaucoup mieux que les trois suivans.”

49 Preface, Vol. vi. It is interesting to note here the same idea and almost identical phrasing in the preface of A Brief and Merry History of Great Britain … written originally in Arabick by Ali Mohammed Hadgi …faithfully rendered into English by Mr. Anthony Hillier (1710) “The Flowers of Barbary, when once transplanted to our Barren English Soil, doubtless lose their Vertue and Beauty until they are naturaliz'd.”

50 Gentleman's Mag., N.S., xv (March 1841), 265–270.

51 Preface, Life of Lucian, Works, ed. Sir Walter Scott (Edinburgh, 1882–93), xviii, 83.

52 The following libraries have been checked for editions and manuscripts: Paris—Bibliothèque Nationale, Bibliothèque de l'Arsenal, Bibliothèque Mazarin, Bibliothèque de l'Institut de France, Bibliothèque Ste. Geneviève; Brussels—Bibliothèque Royale; Amsterdam—Universiteitsbibliotheek; Naples—Biblioteca Nazionale; Rome—Biblioteca Nazionale di Roma, Collegio Romano, Biblioteca Vaticana; Florence—Biblioteca Medici Riccardiana, Biblioteca Marucelliana, Biblioteca dell'Università di Firenze, Biblioteca Nazionale di Firenze; London—British Museum; United States—Library of Congress and the libraries of Harvard, Yale, and Columbia.

53 Possibly the name is a combination of Sault and Hindmarsh.

54 “two Tomes of the Turkish Spy in Italian, with promise of the rest.” The word “tomes” is incidentally closer to “tomo” which Marana used in his Italian manuscripts than the English designation of “volume” or “book” used in the 1691–94 edition.