Wallachia and Moldavia as Seen by William Wilkinson, Late British Consul Resident at Bukorest (1820)

Abstract

Abstract This article analyzes the way William Wilkinson, a Levant Company member, perceives two Romanian countries situated at the edge of the Ottoman Empire, one of the British Oriental Others, in his An Account of the Principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia with Various Political Observations Relating to Them, published in London in 1820 and written after several years of official residence mainly in Bucharest (1813-1816). Since the book has not been previously analyzed, except for the theme of religion by Professor James Brown, this article proposes to approach it from several different points of view: the author, the Company and the image of the Turks; economic opportunities, prohibition, organization; Romanian history; cities, monuments, travelling system, inhabitants. What this study wishes to demonstrate is that, through both criticism and appreciation, Wilkinson’s book is one of sympathy and mercy towards the Romanian people – a pledge for their freedom.