Folio Archives 324: The Pilgrim by Pietro Della Valle - 1989
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1wcarter
The Pilgrim, The Travels of Pietro Della Valle - 1989
Pietro Della Valle was a 28 year old wealthy Roman when he set off from Venice in 1712 to visit the Holy Land. But along the way he gets rather distracted and wanders considerably off track, visiting not only Jerusalem and Damascus, but Constantinople (Istanbul), Egypt, Baghdad, Persia and ten years later ends up in India.
This is a collection of his diaries and letters back to Italy that make fascinating reading as they describe his day to day life 300 years ago in some of the most exotic and least visited regions of the world. His adventures are legion, from carving his name on top of the great pyramid at Giza and buying newly discovered mummies from Egyptian tombs, to being accepted into the Shah of Persia’s court and marrying an Armenian beauty. It is difficult to stop reading because his experiences are so amazing, and you keep wondering what will happen next. It is rare to have such an insight to these parts of the planet at this time.
The xix + 303 page book is unusually bound in two-tone red and green cloth that divides the covers vertically. It was translated, abridged and introduced by George Bull and has 17 leaves of reproduced etchings from a Dutch edition of 1764-65. The endleaves are printed in green with engravings done in 1745 of Pietro and his wife. The page tops are stained red and the dark red slipcase measures 22.9x16.2cm.
A map of Della Valle’s travels downloaded from the internet that will enable anyone who decides to read this book to more easily follow the journey. It is a pity that the FS did not publish a similar map in the book itself.
An index of the other illustrated reviews in the "Folio Archives" series can be viewed here.
Pietro Della Valle was a 28 year old wealthy Roman when he set off from Venice in 1712 to visit the Holy Land. But along the way he gets rather distracted and wanders considerably off track, visiting not only Jerusalem and Damascus, but Constantinople (Istanbul), Egypt, Baghdad, Persia and ten years later ends up in India.
This is a collection of his diaries and letters back to Italy that make fascinating reading as they describe his day to day life 300 years ago in some of the most exotic and least visited regions of the world. His adventures are legion, from carving his name on top of the great pyramid at Giza and buying newly discovered mummies from Egyptian tombs, to being accepted into the Shah of Persia’s court and marrying an Armenian beauty. It is difficult to stop reading because his experiences are so amazing, and you keep wondering what will happen next. It is rare to have such an insight to these parts of the planet at this time.
The xix + 303 page book is unusually bound in two-tone red and green cloth that divides the covers vertically. It was translated, abridged and introduced by George Bull and has 17 leaves of reproduced etchings from a Dutch edition of 1764-65. The endleaves are printed in green with engravings done in 1745 of Pietro and his wife. The page tops are stained red and the dark red slipcase measures 22.9x16.2cm.
A map of Della Valle’s travels downloaded from the internet that will enable anyone who decides to read this book to more easily follow the journey. It is a pity that the FS did not publish a similar map in the book itself.
An index of the other illustrated reviews in the "Folio Archives" series can be viewed here.
2SinsenKrysset
He brought some of the first examples of cuneiform to Europe. He was a book lover and collector.
There is a small wikipedia page about him here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pietro_Della_Valle
I would higly encourage you to read this article if you are intriguged by his life:
https://archive.aramcoworld.com/issue/201401/pietro.della.valle.pilgrim.of.curio...
He seems to be the first traveller i know with travel checques. His travels bears witness to a very connected word.
There is a small wikipedia page about him here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pietro_Della_Valle
I would higly encourage you to read this article if you are intriguged by his life:
https://archive.aramcoworld.com/issue/201401/pietro.della.valle.pilgrim.of.curio...
He seems to be the first traveller i know with travel checques. His travels bears witness to a very connected word.
