Metal bookcovers from a gospel book published in Venice by Nikolaos Glykys in 1818 (Gift of Tatiana Averoff-Ioannou)
Mr. Antonis Marinakis, descendant of Aristides Yorgancoglou Pasha, minister in the Ottoman government in the nineteenth century, donated to the Library a valuable family collection of eleven volumes including travel books and literary works in Arabic and Persian dating from the sixteenth to the nineteenth centuries. Of special interest are eight volumes of the Journal des sçavans, which is the earliest scientific journal published in Europe, dating to the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries; and an early German travel book by Salomon Schweigger, Ein newe Reyssbeschreibung auss Teutschland nach Constantinopel und Jerusalem (Nürnberg: Johann Lantzenberger, 1608).
Thanks to the interest of Gennadius Trustee Apostolos Doxiadis 65 volumes from the library of Evanghelos Averoff-Tositsas (1908-1990) were offered to the Library by his daughter Ms. Tatiana Averoff-Ioannou. Many of the books are signed with dedication by the late President of the Hellenic Republic Konstantinos Tsatsos and his wife Ioanna Tsatsou, whose archive is in the Gennadius Library. Three early liturgical Greek books stand out, including a Gospel book published in Venice by Nikolaos Glykys in 1818 with precious metal bookcovers, and a manuscript of canon law dating to the eighteenth century.
Dr. Alexander Thomas Simos donated to the Library the book Travels in various countries of Europe, Asia and Africa [ pt. 2], section the second, volume the sixth: Greece, Egypt, and the Holy Land (London: Printed for T. Cadell and W. Davies, 1818) in honor of Gennadeion Trustee Ms. Irene Moscahlaidis.
