The Gennadius Library has recently received as a gift an archive of private and state documents donated to the library by descendants of the family of Louis Brest, who was French vice-consul on the island of Milos in the 19th century. The archive consists of letters and other material dating from 1770 to the early 20th century. The archive has been classified and catalogued by historian Anna Athanasouli, a doctoral student at the University of Crete.

A symposium on January 19, 2026 will present this new archival material that sheds light on the realities of the Aegean world and will place it within the general research framework of the region in early modernity.