Your Excellency's obedient servant

"This is an eclectic collection of both official letters and private communications written/signed by, or addressed to member of royal families, statesmen, diplomats, travellers, artists, dilettanti, writers and journalists, with diplomats (both Ottoman and foreign) taking pride of place. Ranging from the late eighteenth century to the early 1920s (the first item is dated 31 August 1795, the last 15 October 1922) they are contemporaneous with the final stage of the Eastern Question and are of interest not only to the collector, but also to the historian because they provide information--especially the private letters--not easily found in other sources."--Preface, page 11.