TWO EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY MANUSCRIPTS
ON THE GEOGRAPHY OF THE LEVANT
GEORGE SALT
A MANUSCRIPT on my bookshelves contains a collection of geographical and other notes
relating to Greece and Asia Minor. It has no title, and is unsigned. It was written during a
period of years beginning before 1739, probably before 1733, and continuing at least until
1749. Among its contents are about a hundred Greek inscriptions. Some of the
inscriptions attracted the interest of Professor R. Stroud, of Berkeley, when he visited
Cambridge in 1977-8, and he intends to publish an article about them. For that purpose it
is desirable to know what authenticity they command, in short, who wrote the manuscript.
This paper records an enquiry into the question.
Salt MS. 62' has two principal parts separated by a short middle section. The first part,
comprising fols. 5-75 (with contemporary pagination 1-140 + 2), is an annotated catalogue of 'Citys Towns Rivers Mountains and Lakes', giving their ancient and modern
names and brief notes of their situation and history. It seems to have been written at first
on the recto sides of the leaves only, but most verso pages carry supplementary information, and there are very many marginal and interlinear additions in the same hand. An
index to the foregoing catalogue occupies fols. 76-84' ; fol. 84' has the heading 'A Journal
of a Journey from Aleppo to Constantinople in 1738/39'; and fol. 86' is headed 'Greek
Inscriptions at sundry Places, beginning as follows, / Thyatira'. That middle group of
leaves, fols. 76-86, has no contemporar\ pagination. The second part of the manuscript, fols. 87-142, can be described as a commonplace book of geographical and
antiquarian notes. Besides many entries of journeys, both classical and recent, with details
of routes and distances, it includes numerous items of commercial interest, for instance,
estates, revenues, currencies, and trade. I think that the whole manuscript was written by
one man.
The crucial first step in my search for that man was made possible by Dr. Susan
Skilliter, Lecturer in Turkish at Cambridge. She kindly drew my attention to a paper by
Hasluck,- which lists manuscripts in the British Library relating to travel in the Levant. In
it, under the year 1739, is a reference to Sloane MS. 4824 (properly designated Add. MS.
4824) and a note that on fols. 11 o-12 the manuscript contains 'Arthur PuUinger, Journal of
a journey from Aleppo to Constantinople'. Through the kindness of Miss J. M. Backhouse
of the British Library I have been able to examine Add. MS. 4824 atid my own manuscript
side by side.
.Add. MS. 4824 consists oi" 114 leaves of paper, mostly about 335 x 225 mm. With few
exceptions onl> ihcir recto sides are written on. The text occupying fols. 2-109 '^ ^
transcript of the basic text of fols. 5 75 of my manuscript, that is, the text without the
marginal and interlinear additions. On fols. 110 12, written in the same hand, is 'A
Journal ofa Journc\ from Aleppo to Constantinople in 1738/9', copied from fols. 84^-85^
of Salt MS. (u. The transcription throughout is imperfect; and the nature of the differences
between the two manuscripts shows that Add. MS. 4824 was copied from Salt MS. 62, and
not the reverse. Thai view is confirmed b\ the fact that the copyist leii many gaps where he
could not read what he was cop> ing; tbe words omitted, usually Turkish place-names or
words in Greek, were inserted untidily, perhaps impatiently, in another hand. The two
hands found in Add. MS. 4824 arc both different from the small neat band of Salt MS. 62.
Four pages of Add. MS. 4824- the recto sides of fols. i and i [3 and both sides of
fol. 114—were not written by the copyist. On fol. i is a title, written quickly, with no
attempt at formal lettering but spaced as for a title-page. It reads: 'Antient / Geography /
C.oUcctcd By , Arthur Pullinger / Late Merchant / In / Aleppo / About The Year / 1740'.
The satne hand is recognizable in the heading of fol. 113, 'Greek Inscriptions In Athens on
the seats of the Theater of Bacchus / or above them', and of fol. 114, 'Initial lines of
inscriptions / At Thyatira'. The latter three pages (fols. 113, 114^ and 114^) are largely
occupied by Greek capital letters, altogether sixty-four lines or part lines of them, and it is
significant that they were obviously written at speed, by someone thoroughly accustomed
to writing Greek and not over-careful about the formation of his letters. The place-names
and other words written in gaps left in the text by the principal copyist, and rather
extensive notes on the verso sides of seven leaves (fols. 3, 37, 68, 76, 83, 103, 107, where
were copied some of the larger collections of inscriptions in Salt MS. 62), are in the hand of
the w riter of these four pages.
Examination of Add. MS. 4824, then, has revealed the name of the man we seek. On its
title-page the text, copied from Salt MS. 62, is attributed to 'Arthur PuUinger Late
Merchant In Aleppo'. There is no reason to doubt the attribution. It is consistent with the
interest in commercial matters shown by entries in the commonplace part of my
manuscript, the part which was not copied in Add. MS. 4824. I'hc writer of the original
manuscript knew some Turkish, as is evident from his occasional translation of placenames (e.g. fol. 8 4 \ 'Curtculla, A Wolfs Far'; fol. 85, 'Oxshahar, White City', 'EskiShahar, Old City', and 'Kirkcuoslu or Forty Eyes'), and that knowledge would be
expected in a merchant of Aleppo.
Moreover, the attribution of Salt MS. 62 to Arthur Pullinger does not rest solely on the
title-page of Add. MS. 4824. The journal of the journey from Aleppo to Constantinople in
March 1739 on fols. 84'-85' of my manuscript clearh records first-hand experience. It
gives the number of times the traveller changed horses and the number of hours he took
over each stage, and it contains remarks on the topography, scenery, and produce of the
cftuntry he is traversing in terms that are clearly personal although not in the first person.
Any suggestion that the journal could tievertheless have been copied is ruled out by the
alterations in it, both changes of phrasing and interpolations, all in the same hand. They
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show that the writer was emending his own account. Now, in the second, commonplace,
part of the notebook (fol. 119), where the writer was attempting to reconcile the placenames and distances recorded by several travellers, he tabulated the route and distances
between Aleppo and Constantinople under the small and inconspicuous heading
'PuUingers Acct'. That, in effect, signs the 'Journal of a Journey'.
I think it cati safely be concluded that the compiler and writer of Salt MS. 62 was
Arthur Pullinger. A number of facts still to be mentioned are all compatible with that
identification.
But who was Arthur Pullinger.^ Our only clue—that he was a merchant in Aleppoleads straight to the records of the Levant Company, because English trade with Asia
Minor in tbe eighteenth century was a monopoly of the 'Turkey Merchants'. In those
records he has already been found: an interesting account by R. Davis' of the Radcliffc
tamily, English traders in the Levant, mentions him and incidentally provides the
following information about his commercial activities. Arthur Pullinger was one of the
factors at Aleppo of the London house of H., J., and T. March. In 1725-6 he was partner
of Charles Beverley in the firm of Beverley & Pullinger; and he presumably became a
senior factor in due course, for in 1733 another merchant, Richard Stratton, wrote of
'Messrs. PuUinger'. Still later he received Samuel Medley as his junior, and they
continued to represent the March interests in Aleppo until 1738, when the firm of
Pullinger & Medley went bankrupt.
The dates to be found in Pullinger's notebook fit that time-scale, and extend it; but they
are few, and it is uncertain whether all of them refer to his own activities. His book is a
collection ot notes, some based on personal experience, others copied, and the two
categories are not explicitly distinguished. For instance, on fol. 51 is written, 'The following Inscriptions were taken from thence the Year of our Lord 17^^', followed by a
description ot the site which seems from its colloquial wording unlikcK to have been
copied from anything in print, and from its form and detail to be original. If it can be relied
upon as a personal observation, Pullinger visited Ephesus and copied inscriptions there in
1733- ^^ know that he travelled to Constantinople in 1739, and I think that he then
returned to England. A table on fol. 132 headed 'Computed distance from Constantinople
to London by Sea' lists the length in leagues of thirty-five stages; eight of them are
between the Lizard and London, which suggests an Englishman's personal interest. From
evidence of another kind, to be given below, it is probable that Pullinger was in England in
1741-2. But I think he went back to Aleppo later, for on fol. 119' of his notebook is
described a journey from Aleppo to the river Euphrates in 1747 which appears to be
original. The latest date in the manuscript is that of a letter from Consul Purnell in
Latachia written in January 1749 and copied into the notebook on fol. 87''; but there is
nothing to indicate where Pullinger was when he copied it.
This is no place to attempt even a brief biography of Arthur Pullinger, but a few
remarks are necessary if his manuscript and the Greek inscriptions in it are to be seen in
a proper background. English merchants in the Levant in his time lived in quarters
resembling small forts, in all-male communities which reminded Ambrose^ of monastic or
153
academical institutions. Mosl of them passed their exile, usually of eight to ten years, in
trivial pursuits; a few took ihcopportunities afforded by the region to develop antiquarian
interests. Wood'^ mentions several factors who at various times collected oriental
manuscripts, ancient coins, statuary, and other antiquities, with which they enriched
I'.niilish museums. .Arthur Pullinger was clcarl> a man of that sort, but he remains
unktiown because liis collections were not objects but observations, and he did not publish
thctii. 1 lis name docs not appear in ihc I).N.B. or among thcgraduatcsof the seven British
universities of the linic; but his transcription of Greek and Latin with evident
appreciation, his knowledge of classical geography and history, the wide range of his
interests, and, in general, the way he went about making his notes are convincing evidence
that he was an educated man. Let tis notice in passing that the Greek letters in his notebook
were fiirmcd caretulh, drawn rather than written, as by one acquainted with Greek but
not much in the habit ol" writing it.
Examination of Add. MS. 4S24 provides another name. On its modern binding is
statiipcd in gold 'Bequeathed by Rev. R. Pocock, D.D.'. Having doubts about the spelling
of tbe surname and the Doctorate in Divinity, I appealed for information about the
acquisition of" the tnanuscript to Dr. 1). P. Walcy, Keeper of Manuscripts at the British
Library. He kindh informed me that it'was part of the collection bequeathed to the British
.Museum b\ Dr. Richard Pocockc, Bishop of Mcaih (d. 1765), and transmitted by his
cousin and executor Jeremiah Milles on 5 June 1767'." That identification is especially
gratifying because it bears directly on the motive of this enquiry: Richard Pococke was not
only a bishop, a traveller, and an antiquarian, he was also the author of a catalogue of
Greek inscriptions."
Richard Pocockc" received the D.C.L. of Oxford University in 1733, but in his books
used the abbreviation LL.D. He was made Bishop of Ossory in 1756, and of Meath in
1765, 'ind ma) have become a Doctor of Divinitv but, if so, neither the D.N.B. nor
I'oster's . l/ninni Oxonicnscs mentions it. I le is chiefly known as a traveller and antiquarian.
His travels in Fgypt, Asia Minor, and Greece are described in two folio volumes, of which
Pat t I nf ihc sccotul \olunic' especially concerns us here. Sailing from Fgypt on 10 March
1738 (p. 2), he landed at Joppa and, after travelling in Palestine for about four months, left
Damascus for Aleppo on 15 Jul\ 1738 (p. 137). On the way, at Surmecnon 25 July, he was
met by 'my friend at Aleppo' (p. 146), and he reached Aleppo in his friend's company on
29 July (p. 150). Pocockc made excursions in the district, including a journey to the
Euphrates which occupied two weeks, and finally left Aleppo for Antioch ('I took leave of
my friends at Aleppo, from w hom I had received all manner of civilities') on 20 September
1738 (p. 169). He spent the next two years in Cyprus, Egypt, Crete, the Aegean islands,
Phrygia, and Greece, and eventually sailed from Patras for Messina on 20 October 1740.
.After further travel in Europe, he returned to London on 30 August 1741.'"
Pococke's itinerary in the summer of 173S has been set out in some detail because it
shows that he went to Aleppo while Arthur Pullinger was living there. PuUinger is not
mentioned b\ name in Pococke's book, but neither is anyone else. Many friends, hosts,
servants, English gentlemen, consuls, and pashas are acknowledged as having helped him
154
in his travels, but not one of them is named. At the time of Pococke's visit to Aleppo, there
were 'not above six or seven English houses here at present' (p. 151); during the eight
weeks Pocockc spent in and about Aleppo he must have met most members ot so small a
communit), and it is incredible that he should not have met a man who had interests so
similar to his ow n. Indeed, it seems to me extremely likely that Pullinger was 'my friend at
Aleppo' who rode out from the city to meet Pocockc at Surmccn on 25 July (p. 146) and to
whose house in Aleppo Pococke retired after calling on the consul (p. 150). That friend
presumably had antiquarian interests, for he accompanied, perhaps guided, Pocockc on
visits to Kuph (p. 146), Elbarraw (p. 147), and Rouiah (p. 148) during the three days after
their meeting at Surmeen. Pullinger, the writer of Salt MS. 62, undoubtedly had that
qualification.
It is almost certain, then, that Pococke and Pullinger were in each other's company at
Aleppo for eight weeks during July, August, and September 1738. Was Add. MS. 4<S24
copied from Pullinger's notebook at Pococke's behest during" that period? A copyist could
easily have written it in the time; but several lines of evidence indicate that it was written
later, and in England. The journal of the journey from Aleppo to Constantinople in March
1739 is included in the cop). The title-page describes Pullinger as 'Late Merchant In
Aleppo', implying that when it was written he was no longer there. The copy was written
in an English hand, on paper with a British watermark, and by a copyist who was not
familiar with Greek letters or Turkish place-names but was proficient in English;
therefore probably in England. The cop) must surely have been written for Pococke
(further evidence is given below), but he did not return to England until 1741. The
collection of notes (not the copy) is said on the title-page to have been made 'About
The "^ear 1740', a form of words that would be used of time past. These bits of evidence
suggest that Pococke had the copy made in England, after he returned but before he w rote
his book, perhaps in the second half of 1741 or in 1742. If so, Pullinger's notebook must
have been in England then; and Pullinger, 'Late Merchant In Aleppo', was probably here
with it.
Add. MS. 4824 contains only about a quarter of the contents of Salt MS. 62, for
Pullinger doubled the size of his first part b) adding marg;inal and interlinear notes after
the cop) was written, and his second part, if an) of it then existed, was not copied. He not
only added to his original text, he also altered it. F'or instance, on fol. 85 he struck out some
words and wrote a replacement in the margin. The original words are illegible although
the descenders of a/> and a^and the top of a Tcan be made out. Add. MS. 4824 has here
'passing by a Town', which must have been copied before the words were cancelled. Some
of the additional notes were probably added after Pullinger had read Pococke's book,
published in 1745. For instance, on fol. 46 one of the interlinear additions reads
'Po])chna p.|crhapsj Biramitch which Dr Pocockc mentions amongst the Villages near
Troy see Page 76' (The reference is to his own page 76 (fol. 43') where a note reads '. . . a
Village called now Biramlich may be Polychna'). Biramitch is mentioned on p. 107 of
Part II of Pococke's second volume. This process of emendation and addition seems to
have gone on fora long while. Add. MS. 4824 was probably written in a short space of time
155
and wuhiii the years 1741 2. Pullin^cr's notebook was the intermittent work of several
\ears, probabl) from belore 173^^, cerlainl\ irom 1730, until 174().
One further point has been investigaletl. Il was mentioned above that four pages of
Add. MS. 4824 were noi written by the copyist, and that the many Greek inscriptions
recorded on three of tbem had obviously been written at speed, by someone accustomed to
writing Greek. Since the manuscript is known to have belonged to Ricbard Pococke, who
afterwards published a catalogue of Cireek inscriptions, it would be natural to suppose that
he wrote those pages himseli. An opportunit) to examine that supposition was offered
when l)r, W ale\ kindl\ lold me of manuscripts in the British Library which were written
or corrected b\ Richard Pococke. I have compared the writing in Add. MS. 4824 with that
in Add. MS. 22995 (catalogued as being in Pococke's hand) and with the corrections in
Add. MS. 22998 (catalogued as having corrections in Pococke's hand). The comparison
lca\es no doubt in my mind that fol. i and fols. 11 v 14 of Add. MS. 4824 were written by
Rich.ud Pococke, and thai it was he who filled the gaps left in the text by the copyist and
w ho copied the inscriptions from Salt MS. 62 on to the verso sides of seven leaves of Add.
MS. 4824 (fols. 3, 37, 68, 76, 83, 103, 107). Together w ith circumstantial evidence already
mentioned, this observation strongly supports the idea that Add. MS. 4824 was copied
from PuUinger's notebook on Pococke's behalf.
To what extent Pococke used Pullinger's geographical notes when he described his own
travels would be difficult to estimate in general, but in one instance his debt is clear. A long
footnote on pp. 83-4 of Part II of his second volume begins, 'As the road from Aleppo to
Constantinople passes through this country, I shall give some account ot that road, whieh
I recci\ed from a friend who tra\elled twice that way, as it will give an opportunity of
explaining many things relating to the geography of Asia Minor'. There follows an
account in about 1,250 words, of which the matter and many of the phrases are taken from
Pullinger's journal of his journc\. The footnote ser\cs to tell us that PuUinger made the
journey twice, and that Pococke considered his observations valuable in explaining the
geography oi the region. It also tells us something about Pococke. Me may perhaps be
excused for leaving nameless those who helped him on his travels, because they were so
many, but there is something niggardly in his failure to mention a man who provided
information he used in his book. A satisfactory result of this enquiry is to bring forward the
name of Arthur Pullinger as a traveller and antiquarian.
1 Sail M S . 6 2 . I n E n g i i b h , o n p a p e r , 142 II., 300 X
185 mm., generally 40-50 lines to a page but
with many interlinear additions in the same
neat cursive. Five engraved maps pasted in;
a few diagrams lo illustrate architecture;
numerous Greek inscriptions, some copied from
epigraphs.
2 I. \\ - Hasluclv, 'Notes on Manuscripis in the
Hritish MusLuni relaiing 10 Levani Geography
and Travel', .hiiunil of the British School at
.////c^.v, \ii (1905 6), pp. \()h-2\z,.
} Ralph IXnis, Aleppo und Devonshire Square
(London, 11)67).
4 G. Ambrose,'English Traders at Aleppo 1658I75^''i Economic History
Review,
iii (1931),
PP^ 248-67.
5 Alfred C. Wood, A History oj'lhe Levunt Com/)(/»)'(Oxford, 1^5), p. 242.
6 This and further information about Add. MS.
4S24 is now available in the Cutdlojiiu- of Add 1tions to the Manuscripts 17SO-1282 (London,
u)77)7 Richard Poeocke. Jnscnptioitum .hitu/iiuriiiii
Graec. et Latin. Liber (London, 1752).
8 DtctionaryoJNatioii(ilBiograptiy{iH()(}),\o\.\]\\,
PP- 12-14.
9 Richard Pococke, .1 Desinption oj the Hast and
Some Other Countries, vol. ii (London, 1745).
157
lo According to the D.N.fi., Pncocke rciurned to
I'.ngland in 1742. Mis travels after he left Crelc
are obscurely dated, without reference to the
year, but in the summary of his travels in Europe
(Part 11, pp. 272-3) Pococke gives the date ol his
arrival in London as yo Aug. 1741. This is cortoborated in Add. M S . 2Zi)(.)H, where lhe final
letter is addressed from Dover on 2tj Aug. 1741.