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Detailed observations of life in the Ottoman Empire, Egypt
and elsewhere in the Levant and Middle East ca. 1610

LITHGOW, William.
Willem Lithgouws 19 jaarige lant-reyse, uyt Schotlant nae de vermaerde deelen des werelts Europa, Asia en Africa.
Amsterdam, Jacob Benjamin (colophon: printed by Christoffel Cunradus), 1653. 2 parts in 1 volume. 4to. With engraved frontispiece by Crispijn de Passe, 1 engraved plate and 6 engraved illustrations in the text. 19th-century half vellum. [8], 186, 98 pp.
€ 1,950
Second Dutch edition of a classic account of three voyages by the Scotsman William Lithgow (1582-1645?), mostly on foot, from Rome to Greece, Crete, Turkey, Cyprus, the Holy Land, Egypt, Malta, continental Europe and North Africa, including the British Isles and the Iberian peninsula. He gives an account of coffee, describes Turkish baths and long Turkish tobacco pipes, pigeon post between Aleppo and Bagdad and the hatching of chicken eggs by artificial incubation, all largely unknown in Europe when he wrote.
The book went through more than a dozen editions in the course of two centuries. "He ... had a greater knowledge of the interior of the countries he visited than most travellers of this period. He provides interesting details of the society, men, and manners he observed" (Blackmer).
With the bookplate of the Dutch historian J.F.L. de Balbian Verster. The engraved plate faces p. 50 of the part 1, but probably should face p. 21 of part 2. With a tear repaired in Q3 and very slightly browned, but book and binding overall in good condition. Howgego, to 1800, L134; KVK & WorldCat (8 copies); Tiele, Bibl. 695 note; cf. Blackmer 1021.
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Related Subjects:

Middle east & islamic world  >  Africa | Cartography & Exploration | Turkey & Ottoman Empire