(Avril P.), "Voyages en divers estats d Europe et dAsie entrepris pour decouvrir un nouveau chemin a la Chine", Paris, Boudot, 1693. Second edition. 12mo, pp. 392, complete with engraved frontispiece and 8 copper engraved plates. Contemporary full leather. Philippe Avril, a Jesuit missionary, has visited the Levant aiming to discover a new overland road towards China. He tried to travel through the Black sea, the Caucasus and the Tartary, but was halted in Moscow and sent back through Moldavia and the Balkans to Constantinople. This early 17th century travel account, through unexplored tracks, is a very valuable source of information. Avril gives precise information not only for his route, but also for all aspects of the visited countries (people,customs,events) and the particularities of travelling in the Levant. Not in Atabey or Blackmer. Rare.