MORYSON, Fynes.

by Fynes Moryson

£7,500 · Offered by Sokol Books

A very good, clean copy of the first edition of this most influential English travelogue, with charming woodcut maps – a mine of information on Europe and the Middle East c.1600. Fynes Moryson (1566-1630) spent 8 years in the 1590s travelling in Europe and along the Mediterranean coasts. Upon returning to England in 1600, he was appointed secretary to Lord Mountjoy, whom he followed to Ireland to curb Tyrone’s Rebellion. ‘Itinerary’ gathers his own personal accounts of these travels; a fourth part was produced in ms but remained unpublished to 1903. ‘Throughout his travels, Moryson shows a protean ability to traverse conventional boundaries and markers of identity, […] a talent for dissimulation that he recommends for aspiring travellers’ (Netzloff, p.61). Part I provides accounts of his travels in Germany, Switzerland and the Low Countries – where he returned after visiting France (Part III) – as well as Denmark and Poland. Part II begins with his arrival into Padua, and a most interesting note on ‘plague passes’. From Padua, Moryson went to Arquà, to see Petrarch’s house and tomb; Venice in 1594, of which he provides copious descriptions; he then moved to Milan and Cremona. He continued along the Adriatic coast to Rimini and Ancona, then Rome and Naples, which are thoroughly described and illustrated. The last chapter recounts his travels in Turkey and the Middle East, including the Holy Land, with a map and detailed account of Constantinople and Christ’s Sepulchre. This se

• Binding: Hardcover

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