Islamic History and Early European Travel to Mecca: Ludovico di Varthema's Account of His 1503 Pilgrimage to the Holy Cities, 1928

Ludovico Di Varthema Arabia Mecca

First Edition

Varthema, Ludovico di. The Itinerary of Ludovico di Varthema of Bologna from 1502 to 1508, 1928. Limited first Argonaut Press edition of one of the earliest European firsthand accounts of Mecca and Medina, originally published in Italian in 1510. Varthema, an Italian traveler from Bologna, entered the Islamic holy cities in 1503 after joining a pilgrim caravan from Damascus under the assumed Muslim name Yunus, serving among its Mamluk military escort. His account is among the earliest recorded descriptions of the Hajj and Mecca by a European visitor who was not originally Muslim, detailing pilgrimage ceremonies, religious customs, urban life, and encounters with merchants and local authorities. His subsequent travels extended through Yemen, the Persian Gulf, Persia, India, and parts of Southeast Asia, recording commercial networks, religious practices, military organization, and maritime trade during the opening decades of Portuguese expansion into the Indian Ocean. The 1928 edition reproduces John Winter Jones's 1863 English translation, prepared for the Hakluyt Society, together with Sir Richard Carnac Temple's historical examination of Varthema's travels in southern Asia.
Varthema, Ludovico di. The Itinerary of Ludovico di Varthema of Bologna from 1502 to 1508. As Translated from the Original Italian Edition of 1510, by John Winter Jones, F.S.A. in 1863 for the Hakluyt Society with A Discourse on Varthema and His Travels in Southern Asia by Sir Richard Carnac Temple. London: The Argonaut Press, 1928. First Argonaut Press edition, limited to 975 numbered copies printed on Japon vellum. One volume, quarto (4to), pp. lxxxvi + 122 (last blank) + [2] (colophon, blank). Illustrated with one plate, five full-page maps within the pagination, a facsimile of the original 1510 title page, and a title-page vignette printed in blue and black; includes an index. Edited by N. M. Penzer. Original quarter vellum over blue-grey buckram boards, spine lettered and ruled in gilt, with rectangular gilt devices on both covers. Retains the original ribbon marker and an ownership bookplate centered on the front pastedown. Varthema's narrative follows his passage through Egypt and Syria to Medina and Mecca, then southward through Yemen and Aden, onward to Hormuz and Persia, and across the Indian Ocean to India and Southeast Asia. His descriptions address the religious observances of the Muslim pilgrims, Bedouin encounters, regional customs and laws, commercial products, trading practices, and methods of warfare.
Varthema's travels took place during a period of increasing Portuguese intervention in Indian Ocean commerce, shortly after Vasco da Gama's voyage around the Cape of Good Hope established a new maritime route between Europe and India. His account records the established Muslim trading networks connecting the Arabian Peninsula, Persian Gulf, Indian ports, and Southeast Asian markets before Portuguese naval power substantially altered regional commerce. First printed in Rome in 1510, the narrative circulated in successive European editions and translations, becoming an early source for European geographical knowledge of Arabia and the Indian Ocean. Sir Richard Carnac Temple's accompanying discourse examines the historical and geographical evidence for Varthema's itinerary, distinguishing his observations from earlier travel accounts and evaluating his descriptions of southern Asia. The original vellum and buckram binding retains its gilt decoration, ribbon marker, and ownership bookplate. Overall in very good condition.

Item #14485

Price: $225.00