Roland's view was a reflection of that expressed by many other foreigners who disliked the imitation of everything European that was so conspicuous during the 19th century. The only quay for passengers disembarking in Istanbul was at Tophane. Here the building of an Italian-style terrace, one of the products of modern taste, in place of the "monumental fountain" with its wooden eaves and roof was, as the art-loving Roland stressed, an affront to the eyes. A few pages further on he stated that he disliked Pera, which entirely resembled a Western city, and found it "characterless". When Roland was exploring the palace at Sarayburnu, which was completely destroyed by fire in 1863, he caught sight of a number of acajou armchairs, gilded clocks and imitation Boule furniture that had been imported from Paris and found them extremely ugly.

Another famous French writer to visit Istanbul during the mid 19th century was Gustave Flaubert (1821-1880). He stayed in the city in the winter of 1850 for two months and tells us about it in sentences of telegraphic brevity: the old structure he liked most was "the ivy-draped walls of the city with greenery sprouting all over - they have never been praised sufficiently". He, too, mentions the incident of the golden coins falling into the Golden Horn, as recounted by Maxime de Camp. Although he explored even the most distant corners of Istanbul ,he did not write any description of the city worthy of his fame in the literary world.

Fritz Reuter (1810-1874), who wrote in a dialect spoken in northern Germany, provides a brief description of a journey he made to Istanbul in 1864 with a group of colleagues in his book "Reis'nah Konstantinopel"; however, this book can only be understood by those with a knowledge of the dialect. E. About, a French writer whose actual profession was archaeology, showed no interest whatsoever in Byzantine or Ottoman structures during his visit to the city. In his book "De Pontoise a Stamboul" he does not show a great deal of interest in the beauty of the surroundings or in the historic past. About had come as far as the Balkans as a guest of the Wagon Lit company on the very first Orient Express and had continued his journey to Istanbul by sea. The writer stayed at the Luxembourg Hotel in Beyo~lu, which was run by F. Belon. He stated that his guide was Ahmed Pa~a ($eker). The Pa~a had taken him to the Dolmabahce Palace, which was furnished with items manufactured in France. About said he was frankly astonished to find that while Indian, Persian and Turkish carpets were the subject of much bidding in the auction rooms of Paris, in Istanbul furniture from Rue de Saint-Antoine and silk from Lyon were in demand. He states quite openly that the opulent French furniture to be found in Istanbul "could not hold a candle to a lamp in a mosque or an enamelled wall tile..." About also mentions the dogs.

The Times correspondent De Blowitz was one of the persons accompying About. Blowitz took a great interest in the waterside residences of the ambassadors and in the summerhouse built by Ismail Pa~a on the hills above Beykoz. De Blowitz was trying to play a part in some of the political intrigues going on in Istanbul and for this purpose was doing all he could to insinuate himself into palace circles. During this time he met Namik Pa~a, Sheikh Ebu'l Huda and Ahmet Vefik Pasa. As a matter of fact the English economist N. W. Senior(1790-1864), who visited Istanbul between 1857 and 1858, had already met this extremely original Ottoman Turk.

Edmondo de Amicis. mentioned in the previous paragraphs, was the author of “Constantinopoli' a classic in the Italian language printed in 1874 and published in all the major languages, including Turkish. De Amicis describes the disappearing Turkish Istanbul and goes on to criticise the European tastes that were replacing it. He admired many of the things he had seen because of their good taste and refinement and it was namely these things that were on their way out at the time the book was written. Now they are no more, and live on in the illustrations in De Amicis's book so beautifully illustrated by C. Biseo. Perhaps it was because this Italian writer himself came from the Mediterranean that he was able to gain a better knowledge of the city than the other travellers and to describe it so vividly.C. Guys (1802-1855), who was employed as an illustrator by ‘The Illustrated London News' was making illustrations of the Crimean War between 1853 and 1855 and his signature is also to be found on drawings depicting the streets of Istanbul and the clothing of its inhabitants. One of these, drawn in pencil and ink, which is to found in Musée des Arts Decoratifs, depicts a little-known corner of the city with its brothels and inhabitants. The number of artists who painted pictures of Istanbul in the mid 19th century was by no means small. Apart from the works of Schrantz, which show in a panoramic manner the beauty of both sides of the Bosphorus (published as lithographs) there were the paintings of the Maltese artist Preziosi, who acquainted the public with Istanbul, its streets and even some of its beggars in his coloured illustrations.