François de La Boullaye-Le-Gouz | Les voyages et observations du sieur de La Boullaye-Le-Gouz, 1657

François de La Boullaye-Le-Gouz

Les voyages et observations du sieur de La Boullaye-Le-gouz. 1657

4to (221 x 174mm.), woodcut engraved frontispiece portrait of the author, 34 woodcut illustrations, later calf, rebacked retaining original spine, worn at edges, covers scratched

The second, expanded edition of one of the earliest books written for travellers to the Middle East and India. It contains François de La Boullaye-Le Gouz's remarkable firsthand account of the journey he took in the 1640s through Greece, Persia, and the Middle East to India and back through several European countries. The frontispiece portrait shows the author in the dress of a Persian nobleman. This was his disguise worn whilst travelling around the country, complete with the pseudonym 'Ibrahim-Beg'. The book concludes with a list of notable people he met, a glossary of exotic words and monetary values and exchange rates. He later returned to the Middle East and died in Ispahan, Iran, around 1669.

PROVENANCE:

Edmund Castell to Edmund Crisp, ex dono; The Cruising Association Library, blind stamp and gilt stamp