“THE RUINS OF PERSEPOLIS… THE MOST FAMOUS ANTIQUITY IN ALL THE EAST”: HANDSOME 1737 FIRST EDITION IN ENGLISH OF LE BRUYN’S RICHLY ILLUSTRATED TRAVELS INTO MUSCOVY AND PERSIA

LE BRUYN, Cornelius. Travels into Muscovy, Persia, And Part of the EastIndies. Containing, An Accurate Description of whatever is most remarkable in those Countries… London: Printed for A. Bettesworth, 1737. Two volumes. Folio (9 by 14 inches), 20th-century full dark brown calf gilt, raised bands, red morocco spine labels. $8500.

First edition in English of this exceptional trans-Asia expedition, with engraved allegorical frontispiece by Picart, engraved portrait, three double-page engraved maps, 114 finely engraved plates—many double-page, including several large, folding panorama-style views, such as the celebrated large folding panoramas of Moscow and Ispahan—and 44 engraved in-text vignettes. Many plates contain multiple subjects, for a total of more than 300 images.

Primarily a landscape painter, Le Bruyn began his journey to Russia in the summer of 1701, at the age of 50, leaving Amsterdam to undertake what would become a seven-year trip to the East-Indies "by way of Muscovy and Persia." The text includes his observations on cities, customs, flora and fauna, and antiquities, particularly the ruins of Persopolis. He was quite possibly the first European to visit Pasargarde. The beautiful copperplate engravings depict portraits, views, buildings, ruins, flora and fauna, and are the same plates that were used in the French edition. Originally published in Dutch (1711) and then in French (1718), this English edition is translated from the French. Wilson, 33. Cox I, 251. Graesse I: 551-52.

Plates and text quite clean, with repairs to the folding Moscow panorama and a few other plates. Handsomely bound.