Thévenot, Melcisédec. Relations de divers voyages curieux, ... Paris, 1663-624. c. 1658
Illustrations:
Melchisedech Thévenot (1620-1692)
Melchisedech Thévenot was a French diplomat, scientist, and travel writer. He was a scholar with interests in mathematics, physics, and medicine, acting as the patron of several early scientific societies and contributing to the formation of the Académie des Sciences. His early career included two missions to Italy in the 1640s and 1650s, and it was there that he first developed an interest in the study of Oriental languages. In 1663, he published the first part of “Relations de Divers Voyages”, a work that would secure his reputation as one of the essential travel compilers of the seventeenth century. He would publish a second and third part in 1666, a fourth in 1672, and a final fifth part was being assembled in 1692 when Thévenot died.
Relations de divers voyages curieux, qui n'ont point esté publiées; ou qui ont esté traduits d'Hacluyt, de Purchas, & d'autres Voyageurs Anglais, Hollandois, Portugais, Allemands, Espagnols; et de quelques Persans, Arabes, et autres Auteurs Orientaux. Par
Item Number: 25428 Authenticity Guarantee
Category: Books > Travel Books
[Travels] – THÉVENOT, Melchisedec (ed.) – Relations de divers voyages curieux, qui n’ont point esté publiees, ou qui ont esté traduites d’Hacluyt, de Purchas, & d’autres voyageurs anglois, hollandois, portugais, allemands, espagnols, et de quelques Persans, Arabes, et autres auteurs orientaux. Enrichies de figures de plantes non décrites, d’animaux inconnus à l’Europe, & de cartes geographiques de pays dont on n’a point encore donné de cartes. Première (- IV.) partie.
Paris, Jacques Langlois for himself and for Gaspard Meturas, Simon Piget, Emanuel Langlois, Thomas Jolly and Louis Billaine [II: Jacques Langlois; III: Sébastien Mabre-Cramoisy; IV: André Cramoisy], 1663 (I)-1664 (II)-1666 (III)-1672 (IV).
Folio: 4 parts in 2 volumes: (I) [8]-52-26-40 [= 44]-12-80-30 [= 28]-24-35-[1]-56-xxv-[2, 1 bl.] pp.; (II) [16]-20-60-128-40-16-48-4 pp.; (III) [12]-68-27-[1]-216-12 pp.; (IV) [4]-14-24-23-[1 bl.]-23-[1]-24-16-4-16-8-[2]-4-40-[2]-58-18-12 pp.
(lacking - as always -: quire E = 8 pp. of woodcuts of ‘Histoire des Mexicains’ in vol. IV).
Comment:
The scarce first edition of Melchisedec Thevenot’s (1620-693) “Accounts of several voyages” with several rare and essential maps: the first French map of Australia, Eastern Africa, Southeast Asia and China. Amongst travel collections, Thevenot occupies a distinguished place, being one of the most complete and lavishly produced; its scope includes Africa, the Far East, South East Asia, and America, amongst other places. The relationship with Australia is undoubtedly one of the most significant and primary sources of information on the island. The first three volumes deal predominantly with the Middle and the Far East, including China, Japan, the Philippines, Egypt, India/Mogul Empire, Africa, East Indies, Australia etc.; volume IV deals with China, Ethiopia, Egypt, Mexico, and Java.
“This first large-scale French travel collection, which was widely read during the Enlightenment, reflected a popular interest not so much in France’s expanding imperial pretensions but rather in collecting and comparing exceptional data concerning foreign lands, a cosmographical precursor to imperialist strivings of later times.”
(Nicolas Dew, Reading travels in the culture of curiosity: Thévenot’s collection of voyages, Journal of Early Modern History, 10, 2006, 39-59 - pdf joined)
The collection is also of great American interest; it contains Palafox’s study on the natives, Acarette du Biscay’s relation to La Plata and Gage’s relation, which includes an essential passage on Mexico profusely illustrated.
The Tasman map is a cornerstone of Australian cartography, both as the earliest obtainable map of the region and the predominant depiction from which the World would know the island for about a century.
Brunet V, col.810-813
References:
* Alden/Landis (European Americana): xerox copies added
* Cordier (Japonica)
* Cordier (Sinica) 1944-1945
* DBS (De Backer/Sommervogel): Jesuits
DBS I:193-194 Emmanuel de Almeyda (1578-1646) - Thévenot IV; DBS II:69-73 Michel Boym (1612-1659) - Thévenot III; DBS III:149 Albert Dorville (1622-1662) - Thévent IV ;DBS III:1884-1886 Johann Gruber (1623-1665) - Thévenot IV; DBS IV:640-643 Prosper Intorcetta (1626-1696) - Thévenot IV; DBS IV:1894-1897 Hieronymys Lobo (1594-1678) - Thévenot IV
* Landwehr (VOC) 258: extensive description of the share of Dutch travellers
(VOC) 258 (Ia): Dutch mission of 1656-1657 - Thévenot I; (VOC) 258 (Ib): Joost Schouten - Thévenot I; (VOC) 258 (Ic): Willem IJsbrantsz Bontekoe - Thévenot I; (VOC) 258 (IId): 3 accounts of trade in the Indies - Thévenot II; (VOC) 258 (IIe): François Pelsaert - Thévenot II; (VOC) 258 (IIf): François Caron - Thévenot II; (VOC) 258 (IIIg): missions to China and the Indies, 1653-1657 - Thévenot III
* Sabin 95333
* Nicolas Dew, Reading travels in the culture of curiosity: Thévenot’s collection of voyages, Journal of Early Modern History, 10, 2006, 39-59 - pdf joined
Illustrations:
Melchisedech Thévenot (1620-1692)
Melchisedech Thévenot was a French diplomat, scientist, and travel writer. He was a scholar with interests in mathematics, physics, and medicine, acting as the patron of several early scientific societies and contributing to the formation of the Académie des Sciences. His early career included two missions to Italy in the 1640s and 1650s, and it was there that he first developed an interest in the study of Oriental languages. In 1663, he published the first part of “Relations de Divers Voyages”, a work that would secure his reputation as one of the essential travel compilers of the seventeenth century. He would publish a second and third part in 1666, a fourth in 1672, and a final fifth part was being assembled in 1692 when Thévenot died.