VALLE, Pierro della. [with] ROCCHI, Girolamo.

£5,750 · Offered by Sokol Books

Sammelband, extra-illustrated C18 prints and original drawing, of two rare works in Italian, both first editions, the first containing the Italian traveller Pierro della Valle’s (1586-1652) description of the court of Shah Abbas of Persia, the greatest ruler of the Iranian Safavid Dynasty, the second an account of the funeral of della Valle’s Persian wife Sitti Maani, from Mardin in modern-day Turkey, with etchings of her arms and calligraphic sigil. The account of Shah Abbas’s court is the only description of della Valle’s travels to be published in his lifetime, immediately after his return to Rome. An edition of the first appeared simultaneously in Rome, priority not established. The account of Shah Abbas’s court begins with the conflicts of language and etiquette experienced by Georgian, Russian, Turkish and Portuguese visitors to the court, descriptions of courtesans, the Shah’s menagerie, etc. Della Valle, who in general is extremely praiseworthy of Abbas and defends him from accusations of tyranny, describes his temperance and good rule, his adherence to Islamic law, including abstaining from alcohol and fasting during Ramadan, and tolerance of Christian communities. However, della Valle does not entirely shy away from the more tyrannical aspects of Abbas’s reign: the persecution of Jews and occasionally Armenian and Syrian Christians, and the extreme cruelty that Abbas displayed in punishing criminals. Della Valle reports disembowelment, removing of livers, blinding,

• Binding: Hardcover

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