Relation d'un voyage du Levant, fait par ordre du roy. Contenant l'histoire ancienne & moderne de plusieurs Isles de l'Archipel, de Contantinople, des Côtes de la Mer Noire, de l'Armenie, de la Georgie, des Frontieres de Perse & de l'Asie Mineure [...].

3 vol., 8vo: [22]-379, [4]-448-[4], [8]-404-[59] pp.; 153 pl. (tear in a6 of vol. 1, some min. browning and dampstaining).

Contemp. calf (covers renewed (19th c.)), gilt initials "JV" on covers, gilt-orn. spines with raised bands, speckled edges (corners, joints, heads and tails def., some def. restored, spines faded and def.).

Second edition (in the same year as the rare 1st ed.) by the French botanist J.P. de Tournefort (1656-1708). Ill. (complete): 153 engr. pl. (51, 40, 62) showing maps or plans (Delos, Mykonos, Ephesus, etc.), views (port of Andros, Mytilene, Trebizond, etc.), botanical & zoological themes, costumes (women, Turcs, Armenian monks, etc.) and other various subjects (cave of Antiparos, bas-reliefs, tombs, etc.). Tournefort was sent on a mission by the king on the proposal of the count of Pontchartrain, secretary of state, who wanted to set up scientific expeditions to study natural history, geography, economics, religions and foreign cultures. He was led to visit a.o. Crete, the Greek islands, Constantinople, Armenia, Georgia, part of Asia Minor and left from March 1700 to June 1702 with the painter Claude Aubriet who produced most of the drawings after which the work was illustrated. The story is made up of the letters that Tournefort sent to Pontchartrain during his journey.
Ref. Chadenat I-709, 2188, 2744 and II-3877, 5472 (states 148 pl.). - Brunet V-903. - Graesse VII-180/181.
Prov. Jean van Volxem (supralibros).