Lot 08041

BRUYN Cornelis de, “Voyage au Levant, cest-à-dire, dans les principaux endroits de lAsie Mineure, dans les isles de Chio, Rhodes, Chypre, etc. Paris and Rouen: Jean-Baptiste-Claude Bauche and Charles Ferrand, 1725.

COMPLETE in five (5) Volumes with portrait frontispiece in volume I, title pages in red and black, 5 engraved folding maps and 85 engraved plates (12 folding). Small 4to.

RICHLY ILLUSTRATED and COLLECTIVE EDITION in French, including all the travels of Flemish traveller and artist, Cornelius de Bruyn, in Asia Minor, the Mediterranean islands, the Holy Lands, Egypt, Persia and the East Indies, with additional text not included in earlier editions. It brings together the two great accounts of Cornelis De Bruyns travels, given by the Abbot Antoine Banier, who revised them and increased them with a summary of the then unpublished travel of Des Monceaux, at the end of the fifth volume. The original Dutch editions of the two voyages appeared in 1698 and 1711 respectively and were first published in French translation in 1700 and 1718.

De Bruyn traveled to the Levant and other destinations between 1674 and 1693. On his second long journey between 1701 and 1708 he travelled to Persia and Moscow, finally reaching the East Indies.The rich illustrations of his work, based on his own drawings, depicting scenes of cities, the costumes of inhabitants, etc made it extremely popular. De Bruyn is the first traveller to have depicted the interior of the pyramids in Egypt, Palmyra in Syria and Persepolis in Iran, as well as everyday “snapshots” of his journey. Of special interest from his journey in this land with its rich historical past are his descriptions of travelling conditions in those areas of Asia, festivals in Isfahan, the artistic tradition and more generally the mores and customs of the Persians, the history of the palace of Persepolis, which was burned down and looted by Alexander the Great, and the chapter on the kings who succeeded Alexander until Le Bruyn’s time.

Contemporary full calf binding rebacked with corners, back with 5 raised bands. Waterstain signs on few pages of Vol.I, the first and – mainly – the last sheets of Vol. II, and large part of Vol.III. Last sheets of Vol.II and first sheets of Vol V soiled, thinned & fragile, small tears on 3 folding maps, soiling. Light edge-wear of the volumes covers, one bumped spot of Vol.V front cover.

Brunet III 911, Chadenat 7066, Cohen 610.