The following article is a new perusal by the very editor of Nicholas Mavrocodatos’ novel Philotheus’ leisure. Under this new consideration looking at a carceral universe the novel reveals a double aim: on a first place to highlight the matchlessness of Istanbul, a world capital in one of its glorious epochs, that of the Tulips. It was a cosmopolitan city in which lived English, French, Italians, Jews, and prisoners of many other nationalities. On the other hand the book, written while its author was a prisoner in Transylvania seems to explore the possibility of a «philosophical novel». Observing the behaviour of people forced to reclusion its main character broods on the fragility of human nature, on destiny underlining each individual’s strong and weak points.