Folio (225 x 340 mm). 5 pts. in 1 vol. (24), 296, (4) pp. (8), 232, (4) pp. (8), 200, (4) pp. (8), 122 pp. (2), 120, (4) pp. With 2 engr. title pages, 2 engr. maps (1 double-page), 63 engravings on 30 plates (1 folding) and numerous engravings in the text. Contemp. calf with giltstamped (oxydized) cover monogram "B.P.B.F.", dated "1681". Independently published in Geneva and Nuremberg, this is one of the four slightly different Nuremberg issues of the same year. The first three parts treat Tavernier's travels to Turkey, Persia, India, and Japan (with large map of Japan), containing reports about the Japanese persecution of the Christians and the Dutch settlements in the Far East. Book Two, chapter Nine of the Persian Travels is of particular interest, as it contains an account of Tavernier's voyage through the Arabian Gulf, mentioning Bahrain, Bandar Abbas, Qeshm, and Hormuz and making observations on the people and navigation of the Gulf. Parts 4 and 5 of the present Nuremberg edition contain as a supplement the first German edition of Spon's and Wheeler's archaeological description of their journey to the Levant. The plates depict festivals, processions, costumes, views, and images of the Eastern flora and fauna as well as coins and gems. - Binding slightly chafed in places; lower corners bumped. Interior somewhat browned and brownstained; bookplate of Thomas Christian Wöhler to front pastedown. Seldom found complete; the copies last auctioned all lacked plates or the last 2 parts. The copy described by Laures is likewise incomplete, containing a mere 23 plates. Not in the Atabey collection. VD 17, 12:635124A. Lipperheide 1456 = La 6. Alt-Japan-Kat. 1472. Mendelssohn IV, 462. Laures 530. Graesse VI/2, 43. Cf. Blackmer 1631 (note); Weber II, 279 (the Geneva edition only).
