Introduction

Chapters in this book

1. Frontmatter i
2. Contents vii
3. Note on the Text ix
4. Introduction 1
5. 1. Prologue: Algiers, June 1932 29
6. 2. Marseille - Aix 33
7. 3. Marseille and the French Mediterranean 36
8. 4. Contingency 49
9. 5. Peiresc’s Letters 54
10. 6. Writing to the Levant, 1626–1637 60
11. 7. Peiresc’s Names, or, On Reading the Namescape 143
12. 8. The Problem of Detail 153
13. 9. The Postal Link 160
14. 10. The Last Mile (Mule Is King) 165
15. 11. Marseille’s Merchants 169
16. 12. Marseille’s Merchant Families 186
17. 13. Financing, Disbursing, Reimbursing 188
18. 14. Sanson Napollon 206
19. 15. Naturalizing Merchants 209
20. 16. North Africans in Marseille 212
21. 17. Northerners in the Mediterranean 214
22. 18. Ship’s Captains and Patrons 225
23. 19. Tasks Entrusted to Captains 226
24. 20. Port Practices: Packaging— Plague— Quarantine 229
25. 21. Setting Sail 235
26. 22. Merchant Routes 237
27. 23. Mapping the Mediterranean 241
28. 24. Sicily 258
29. 25. People in Motion 265
30. 26. Ottoman Empire News 280
31. 27. Time and Timings 287
32. 28. Corsairs 293
33. 29. Ransoming 299
34. 30. End Points 312
35. 31. Merchants as Intellectual Partners 338
36. 32. Before Statistik 356
37. 33. Peiresc’s Mixing in Cairo’s Consular Politics 362
38. 34. Peiresc and Travel 367
39. 35. Where Mediterranean Meets Orient: Ethiopia, India, Yemen 370
40. 36. At the Still Point 388
41. Appendixes
42. Appendix A. Peiresc in History, 1637–1932 393
43. Appendix B. Peiresc’s Letters to the Levant, 1627–1637, Analyzed 399
44. Appendix C. Patrons and Captains 411
45. Abbreviations 447
46. Notes 449
47. Acknowledgments 617
48. Index 621