De afflictione, tam captivorum quam etiam sub Turcae tributo viventium christianorum

Worms: Gregor Hofmann ("excudebat Gregorius Comiander"), 1545. SECOND EDITION (1st ed. 1544). Hardcover. Fine. Bound in modern vellum. A fine, unpressed copy with good margins of this extremely rare book. Illustrated with seven half-page illustrations in the text, a woodcut of the author on the final leaf, and a small title vignette. Only 1 other copy of this edition traced in North America (Dartmouth). Searching all editions combined, I have located only 1 other copy in North America (the 1544 Antwerp edition, at Harvard). Extremely rare second edition (the first published in Germany) of Georgevic's illustrated, first-hand account of his capture by the Ottomans, his experiences as a slave, and his eventual escape from Ottoman captivity. It includes a description of Turkish customs and a short Latin-Turkish dictionary of common words and sentences, as well as the first Croatian-Latin dictionary.

Bartolomej Georgevic, also known as Bartol Đurđević (1506 - 1566) was born in Mala Mlaka, then part of the Kingdom of Hungary (now part of Croatia). After studying in Kalocsa and Esztergom, Georgevic was captured and enslaved at the Battle of Mohács (1526) during Suleiman the Magnificent's Ottoman invasion of Hungary. He was sold seven times and endured Turkish captivity for twelve years, escaping later to Armenia. In the late 1530's Georgevic travelled through the Middle East to Jerusalem, for which he became known as the 'Jerusalem Pilgrim'. Upon his return to Europe via Antwerp, he published the first edition of 'De afflictione' in 1544 and continued to travel through Worms, Vienna, Krakow and Uppsala, finally settling in Rome in 1552.

Georgevic was one of the first Slavs whose publications became widespread and popular throughout Europe, in particular due to his first-hand accounts of the enslavement of Christians by Ottoman invaders. These traumatic experiences left a deep mark on the author and this is seen in his writing, where the threat of Turkish danger is a constant presence, and where he strongly encouraged anti-Ottoman resistance for all European nations.

Georgevic's text is illustrated by seven crisp woodcuts depicting scenes of enslavement, forced labor, attempted escape by swimming, and subsequent torture suffered by Christian prisoners during their captivity in Constantinople. An additional woodcut illustration at the end of the volume shows the author kneeling before Christ during his pilgrimage to Jerusalem. The Latin-Turkish lexicon contains simple sentences and questions adequate for beginner learners of the language, such as 'Where were you born?' and 'Peace be upon you, prince'.

Additionally, the author is widely known as a lexicographer and polyglot, responsible for writing the first Croatian-Latin dictionary - half a century older than the famous Vrančić dictionary of 1595. This was first published in the first edition of 'De afflictione', printed in 1544 in Antwerp, using Štokavian script. The lexicon is also included in this second edition of the work. Despite the prevalent anti-Ottoman sentiment of the work, this account of Turkey became a popular description of Turkish culture for European audiences. It was widely disseminated, reprinted and translated into Dutch, English, German, Czech and Italian. Certain parts were also incorporated into the works of Sansovino, Luther, and Melanchthon.