Reizen over Moskovië door Persië en Indië [...].

Folio: [8]-472-[12] pp. (missing engr. n. 74, 102 and 214, marg. dampst., some margins of pl. reinforced, some tiny wormtracks).

Contemp. calf, gilt-orn. spine with raised bands (sides and spine restored).

Second Amsterdam ed. (1st 1711) by the trans-Asia expedition of the Dutch artist and traveler de Bruyn (1652-1726/7). Ill. with an engr. allegorical front. by B. Picart, an engr. portrait by Gerrit Valck, 2 double page maps, 257 (of 260) numb. engr. pl. After his tour to the Levant, in 1701, at the age of 50, De Bruyn took off for an extensive journey to Persia, India and Indonesia via Moscow, arriving in Persia in 1703 where he visited Persepolis and Ispahan. In 1705 he went to Ceylon and Java. He travelled with his eyes wide open observing the cities, customs, languages, flora, fauna and antiquities. He also witnessed the provincial Russian cities such as Arkhangelsk, Voronezh, Samara and Saratov, Armenian customs, and Islamic inscriptions, architecture and customs. He was also commissioned to paint the cousins of Czar Peter with whom De Bruyn also had a conversation in Dutch. The drawings he made, esp. the large folding panoramic views of Moscow (30 x 190 cm), Ispahan (30 x 190 cm) and Persepolis (in 4 parts measuring in total 30 x 250 cm!), are very important because they are the first foreign representations of that kind and beautifully executed. Title in red & black. Printed in 2 col.
Ref. STCN. - BnF. - Cf. Lipperheide 546 (1st ed.). - Tiele 209. - Cox II:251.