Thevenot: “Reizen van der heere Thevenot in de welken gehandeld word van de Staaten….van d Archipel, Konstantinopolen, Heilig Land, Egypten… van Asia en Afrika...” Amsterdam 1681 First Dutch edition, small 4to 21x16cm, contemporary full vellum, text clean and bright, complete: engraved frontispiece [2], full page engraved portrait, 486p.[4] and the 18 beautiful copper engraved plates (two folded),overall a fine copy. First edition of the copper engraved plates of the Levant by Jan Van Luyken. Thevenot began his travels in 1655 returning in 1659. He had visited the Greek Archipelago, Constantinople, Anatolia and Egypt. His travel account is very praised. In a second trip, in 1663-67, visited Syria and Persia. He died in Tabriz in 1667. The French original editions do not have any plate, except for the author’s portrait. The success of his journey initiated the Dutch publishers to prepare a translation and coupled it with many fine views of the Levant produced mainly by Van Luyken, a famous contemporary Dutch painter who visited the Levant in the middle of the 17th century and had prepared fine drawings of Levantine life and places. The result was the best illustrated edition of Thevenot travels. This edition not in Atabey or Blackmer (Atabey 1215/17,French editions, Blackmer 1650, also French)..Very Rare.