Dutch edition of Thévenot's travels in the Levant, with Jan Luyken's splendid illustrations of 1681 1731

Melchisedec Jean-Baptiste Thévenot

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• About the artwork
  Alle de gedenkwaardige en zeer naauwkeurige reizen …; mitsgaders de voornaamster byzonderheden van d'Archipel, Konstantinopolen, 't Heilige Land, Egypten, de woestynen van Arabie, Mekka …
  Amsterdam, Gerrit Bos, 1731. 4to. With engraved title-page, standing portrait of the author in Eastern garb, 19 engraved plates (including 2 folding) drawn, etched and engraved by Jan Luyken. 18th-century half calf, sprinkled-paper sides, refurbished in the 19th century and with a 20th-century spine label.
  
  First volume (of three as numbered, but intended for binding as two) of Thévenot's travels in the Levant in the years 1655 to 1659, including Constantinople, the Holy Land and Egypt, and his further travels to Arabia, Mecca and elsewhere. In the Dutch editions volume 1 is more extensive than volumes 2 and 3, and in the 1723/24 and 1731 editions (both called the second edition on the title-pages) volume 3 has only a divisional title-page, so it was clearly the intention to bind volumes 2 and 3 together, making two volumes of about equal length. The present copy is volume 1 of this 1731 edition.
  With an 18th-century(?) bookseller's note on an endleaf. With marginal chips in the engraved title-page, a few leaves somewhat browned, but in good condition and with large margins. The binding is worn. A detailed account of travels in the Levant, beautifully illustrated from the plates made for it by Jan Luyken in 1681.
  V. Eeghen & V.d. Keller 47 note; Klaversma & Hannema 1416; Landwehr 258 note; Tiele, Bibl. 1090 note.
• About the artist
  Melchisedec Jean-Baptiste Thévenot (c. 1620 – 29 October 1692) was a French compiler and Oriental scholar, born in Paris in 1620. He was sent in 1652 on an important mission to Rome, and in 1684 he was appointed librarian of the Royal Library. He was one of the founders of the Academy of Sciences. His magnum opus is a compilation of travels and voyages, entitled an “Account of Many Curious Voyages hitherto unpublished”, etc., (2 volumes, 1672) He was renowned for his scientific achievements, as well as his profound knowledge of the Oriental tongues, and was the inventor of an air-level. He also collected many valuable books and manuscripts for the Royal Library, of which he wrote a catalogue, entitled “Bibliotheca Thevenotiana.