ABSTRACT
The transformation of an interminable series of diplomatic despatches into sheaves of methodologically approved note-slips proceeded rapidly, and an initial enthusiasm for the task ensured that many transcripts were made which, on the face of it, had little to do with the officially approved research topic. The recipent of Coke’s despatch was Sir William Trumbull, English ambassador at the Porte under James II and William III, until his recall in the summer of 1691. A more circumstantial, if on the face of it a less credible, account, is given by a contemporary Ottoman figure who was himself no stranger to defection: Demetrius Cantemir. A separate annotation, written vertically at the head of the page and partly illegible through waterstaining and offsetting, gives instructions for the ornamenting and illuminating of the final issued document. Coke had served the factory and embassy as cancellarius since the 1660s.
