A Sixteenth-century album to Constantinople: MS. Bodl. Or. 430 at the Bodleian Library

This thesis presents the first detailed study on a long-overlooked travel album housed at the Bodleian Library in Oxford. Catalogued under the shelf-mark MS. Bodl. Or. 430 it is a leatherbound codex composed of one hundred and ninety-two folios, including sixty-two illustrations pertaining in one way or another to the city of Istanbul. It hopes to bring to light an exceptionally informative example of early modern travel albums. It is believed that the Bodl. Or. 430 can prove additive to lively discussions around historical topics including the circulation of portraiture, naval history, the cartographic imaginary, the built environment and urbanism. Further, through a comparative methodology it looks to study the album and assess issues around its dating, patronage and authorship. Finally, it seeks to contribute to the growing study of travel albums, a field that is becoming attune to the complex processes of intellectual and material transmission that have informed their production as an early modern art historical phenomenon. The thesis is completed with running translations from the original Latin, an index of the Album's illustrative content and a full transcription of the text. These, it is hoped, may provide avenues for further scholarly analysis.