Ludovico di Varthema (ca. 1468-1517) was one of the first Europeans to visit the cities of Mecca and Medina and to travel as far east as India and the East Indies, whose travel account survived. Varthema was an Italian traveller and author. He probably came from Bologna or possibly Rome and he might have been a soldier in the papal forces, but not much is known about his early life. Due to Varthema writing and later publishing his travel account, much more is known about where he spent his later life. In 1802, he sailed from Venice via Cairo in Egypt to Damascus in Syria, where he embarked upon his first remarkable journey. He joined a pilgrimage to Mecca and Medina, being one of the first Europeans to enter these holy cities, and then continued south through the Arabian Peninsula to Yemen. From Aden in Yemen he sailed to several cities on the coast of Somalia before sailing along the coast of Oman to Ormuz, Iran and subsequently travelling inland across Persia to India
An extensive analysis of Varthema and his travels by Richard Carnac Temple has been added to the English translation and the whole work has been edited by Norman Mosley Penzer, to make the present work. R.C. Temple (1850-1931) was an Indian-born British administrator and an anthropological writer. He was a member of several societies and institutes, such as the Royal Asiatic Society, the Royal Anthropological Institute, and the Hakluyt Society. The editor, N.M. Penzer (1892-1960), was a British scholar specialised in Oriental studies and a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society.
Binding slightly soiled, edges foxed and untrimmed. With a pink reading ribbon and a small blue label on the back pastedown: "Vancouver Bookshop 909 Robson Street Vancouver, B.C.". Printed on Japon vellum, one of 975 copies but unnumbered. Howgego I, V15. cf. Blackmer 338; Gay, Afrique et Arabie, 140; Macro 2239.