Large-paper copy of the beautifully illustrated first edition of De Bruyn's travels to the Levant

Bruyn (Le Brun), Cornelis de. Reizen van Cornelis de Bruyn, door de vermaardste deelen van Klein Asia, de eylanden Scio, Rhodus, Cyprus, Metelino, Stanchio, &c. Mitsgaders de voornaamste steden van Aegypten, Syrien en Palestina.

Delft, Henrik van Krooneveld, 1698.

Large folio (265 x 404 mm). Large paper copy. (18), 398, (8) pp. Complete copy with engraved frontispiece, engraved author's portrait, the frequently missing large engraved folding map of the Mediterranean Sea and all 122 plates. 18 large folding panoramic views, 28 folding plates and 56 full-plates, numerous half-plates text illustrations. Contemporary Dutch blindstamped vellum.

 15,000.00

First edition, large-paper copy, of this beautifully illustrated account of De Bruyn's first journey through Egypt, Syria, the Holy Land, Rhodes, Cyprus, Scio and Turkey.

The Dutch traveller and landscape painter Cornelis De Bruyn (1652-1726/28) left the Netherlands in 1674 to travel through the Levant by way of Italy. He stayed in the Levant for seven years before settling in Italy in 1685 and returning to the Netherlands in 1693. The work is especially valued for its plates after De Bruyn's own drawings, made on location and then engraved by such well-known artists as Jan and Caper Luyken, including folding panoramas of Alexandria, Antalya, Constantinople, Bethlehem, Jerusalem, Rhodes and Chios. De Bruyn's costume plates are mostly of the different types of Greek and Turkish head-dresses. The publication was soon followed by editions in English and French.

All panoramas in fine condition, not creased or torn (as often), only the panorama of Smyrna (Izmir) is trimmed with considerably narrower margins. Binding repaired with old vellum; some splitting to front hinge; upper spine-end damaged; loss to lower end. A few occasional internal stains, but still a very fresh and crisp copy.

References

Atabey 159. Tiele 207. Klaversma & Hannema 311. Gay 2101. Henze I, 378. Howgego I, p. 157, B177. Weber II, 402 (note). Röhricht 1184. Tobler 114. Cobham/Jeffery 7. Laor 967. Schwab 74. Cohen/de Ricci 610. Lipperheide Ci 48 (= 546). Graesse I, 552. OCLC 4619950. Cf. Blackmer 225 (2nd French ed.). Aboussouan 164 (1725 French 4to ed.). Gnirrep, De Levant in een kleur (1997).

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