[Rarebooks] FS: Important 17th c. travel account to Russia, Persia and the East Indies (the revised English trans.)

[Kenneth Karmiole]

(TRAVEL) Olearius, Adam and Mandelslo, Johann Albrecht von. THE VOYAGES AND TRAVELS OF THE AMBASSADOR SENT BY FREDERICK DUKE OF HOLSTEIN TO THE GREAT Duke of Muscovy and the King of Persia. Begun n the Year M.DC.XXXIII. and Finish'd in M.DC.XXXIX. Containing a Compleat History of Muscovy, Tartary, and Other Adjacent Countries...  [by Adam Olearius] WHERETO ARE ADDED THE TRAVELS OF JOHN ALBERT DE MANDELSLO... Into the East-Indies... Indosthan... Japan, China... Faithfully Rendered into English by John Davies. The Second Edition Corrected. London: John Starkey and Thomas Basset. 1669. Folio. 2 parts in 1, each separately paginated, with separate title-pages. [Note: in this copy the title page for Mandelslo appears first, in error]. (6),316;(22),232,(10)pp. Complete with an added engraved title (with 5 portraits), 2 separate engraved portraits, and a total of 6 folding maps. In this copy the very large folding map of the Volga River found at p. 112 has been divided in two, the second part bound at p. 126, with a slight loss at the fold where they were divided. Engraved table of the Ruthenian alphabet in text. 19th century brown morocco spine over old marbled boards (rubbed). Small chip at the top of spine otherwise an attractive copy.        $3,000.00 (trade discount allowed)
This is an odd copy, quite complete, but with certain preliminaries for the first part bound at front of the second part.
The second edition revised of the English translation first published in 1662, made from a 1659 version in French. It contains material not found in the original German edition of 1656 and 1658.
An important account of Central Asia, including Persia and Russia and the East Indies. The Duke of Holstein's embassies were to negotiate trade. See Cox's THE LITERATURE OF TRAVEL, Vol. 1, pp. 249 and 271 for more details. Wing O270.

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