Voyages par la Moscovie, en Perse, et aux Indes Orientales. Ouvrage enrichi de plus de 320. tailles douces, des plus curieuses [...]. Tom. II.

Folio: [2]-253/469 pp. (margins of a few double-page pl. cut (too) short, tear reaching into text at f. Ggg3, sm. tears in pl. 187-191, pl. 120 repaired in fold, bl. corner of last f. repaired; occ. soiling).

Contemp. calf (rubbed), richly gilt spine with 6 raised bands (rubbed, sm. def. at head & tail, joints starting to split), red edges. Good copy.

First French edition (2nd vol. only, complete in itself) of this famous travel account to Moscow, Persia and the East Indies by the Dutch artist and traveller C. De Bruyn (1652-1727). Very interesting especially for De Bruyn's splendid illustrations: 152 engraved plates (numbered 111-262) on 59 ff., of which 7 folding and 26 double-page. Also 20 large engr. plates in-text. The ill. show large city or naval views, specimens of local fauna & flora (i.a. a filander (a wallaby from New Guinea that De Bruyn saw in a Javan menagerie), a pelican, fruit, cacao, coffee, pepper), costumes or local people from the areas travelled. There is also a long section on Persepolis, the city destroyed by Alexander the Great, with i.a. 4 large folding panoramic views of the ancient ruins. This 2nd vol. (of 2) contains the author's travels from 1701-1708 to Persia, Iraq, India, Sri Lanka and Indonesia. The work of De Bruyn was for a long time the most important source of information for many of the regions he visited. Title in red and black.
Ref. Tiele 52. - Cox I:251. - Chadenat 6034. - Nissen (ZBI) 631N. - Cohen 610. - Brunet III:911. - STCN (i.a. BL).
Prov. Société de Géographie de Lyon (1873-1970) (stamps, i.a. on title, on recto or verso of some pl.). - Some marg. notes. - Bookpl. removed.