Cornelis de Bruijn – A Voyage to the Levant – London, 1702 – Panorama of Jerusalem and Numerous Engravings

A Voyage to the Levant: or, Travels in the Principal Parts of Asia Minor, the Islands of Scio, Rhodes, Cyprus, &c. With an Account of the most Considerable Cities of Egypt, Syria and the Holy Land, by Cornelis de Bruijn. London: Printed for Jacob Tonson and Thomas Bennet, 1702. English.

First English edition of Cornelis de Bruijn's celebrated Voyage to the Levant. Includes over 200 engravings after the author's drawings: engraved title page, portrait of the author, folding and double-page plates, as well as numerous in-text engravings.

Among the engravings: a map of the Mediterranean basin; a panoramic map of Jerusalem; engravings depicting cities and sites in the Holy Land (Jaffa, Ramla, Tiberias, Bethlehem, Haifa, Acre, Nazareth, Absalom's Tomb, Zechariah's Tomb, Jeremiah's Grotto, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, and more); views of cities and monuments in Egypt and Syria (including the interior of the Great Pyramid of Giza); plates depicting inhabitants of various cities in traditional dress; and large folding panoramas of Smyrna, Constantinople, Alexandria, Aleppo, and others.

Cornelis de Bruijn (1652-1727), Dutch traveler and painter, left his native The Hague in 1674, spending several years in Italy before setting out on his extended voyage to Rhodes, Cyprus, Egypt, Syria, the Holy Land, and beyond. Returning to The Hague in 1693, he published his work in Dutch in 1698 under the title Reizen van Cornelis de Bruyn door de Vermaardste Deelen van Klein Asia. Several of his depictions of Middle Eastern sites are regarded as the earliest graphic records of those locations.

[3] leaves, 97, 100-201, 204-205, 208-288, [7] pages + numerous engraved plates. 32.5 cm. Fair-good condition. Stains, creases and wear. Tears and loss to margins of some leaves, with slight damage to text. Stains, tears and defects to engraved plates. Contemporary leather binding, scuffed and worn; both binding boards detached.