Mandeville, Jean de:

$65,000 · Offered by William Reese Company · No longer available

ITINERARIUS: TRACTATO DE LE PIU MARAVEGLIOSE COSE E PIU NOTABILE CHE SI TROVINO IN LE PARTE DEL MONDO. A very early incunable edition of one of the most popular travel books of the late Middle Ages and the Renaissance, taking its reader to the Holy Land, Egypt, Turkey, Persia, Tartary, India, and Cathay (China). One of the first travel narratives in print, Mandeville's adventures set the stage for all European accounts of encounters with the great civilizations of the East. Its influence was profound and persisted well into the era of printing and the age that saw the Western discoveries of the New World and the sea routes to Asia. In 1625 Samuel Purchas thought Mandeville "was the greatest Asian Traveller ever the World had," next – "if next" – to Marco Polo (Pilgrimes III/i p. 65). All early editions are now of great rarity on the market, especially those in the vernacular languages.The Voyages de Jehan de Mandeville Chevalier, which appeared in manuscript in France c.1357, purports to be the personal account of Sir John Mandeville, born and bred in St. Albans, who left England in 1322 and travelled the world for many years, serving the sultan of Cairo and visiting the Great Khan, and finally in 1357 in age and illness setting down his account of the world. That account covers his travels to the Middle East and Palestine in the first part, before he continues to India, Tibet, China, Java, and Sumatra, then returns westward via Arabia, Egypt, and North Africa.Most, if not al

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