LE BRUN Voyage au Levant, c’est à dire dans les principaux endroits de l’Asie Mineure, dans les Isles de Chio, de Rhodes, de Chypre etc… De même que dans les plus considérables villes d’Egypte, de Syrie et de la Terre Sainte […] enrichis d’un grand nombre de figures en taille-douce…

Koç Collection, 99a; Atabey I, 161; Brunet, III, 991; this edition not in Blackmer and Chhen de Ricci (citing the 1714 edition which does only contain the Voyage au Levant). See Quentin-Bauchard, II, 123 ff. (note on Sophie de France).

First collected edition of the extensive travels of Cornelis de Bruyn (1652-1727). Bound for Sophie-Philippine-Elisabeth-Justine de France (1734-1782), the daughter of French King Louis XV.

Most likely revised by Antoine Banier (1673-1741), the publisher of the travel accounts of Paul Lucas (first edition 1711).

The first two volumes are devoted to the Voyage au Levant ; the following three volumes contain the account of his extensive travel to Moscou and Persia.

Copy complete with the portrait, 5 engraved maps (including 4 folding), and 85 engraved plates (including 12 folding).

“Bruyn, traveller and painter, left Holland for Italy in 1674. In 1678 he went on to Smyrna and travelled in the Levant for some years until 1685 where he settled in Venice for 8 years. He returned to Holland in 1693. The very interesting plates in his work are almost all after designs by de Bruyn, who specialized in landscapes and interiors. Most of the plates are views including large panoramic scenes of Constantinople, Smyrna, Alexandria, and Jerusalem. The costume plates are of particular interest since Bruyn has concentrated almost entirely on Greek and Turkish female head-dresses. In 1701 he undertook an extensive journey to Persia and India via Moscow, an account of which was published in Dutch in 1711” (Blackmer, for the edition 1714).

Exceptional Copy

This copy was bound for Sophie-Philippine-Elisabeth-Justine de France (1734-1782), the daughter of French King Louis XV. According to the information given by Olivier-Hermal-Roton the bindings for the daughters of King Louis XV were prepared in Versailles in the workshops of either Fournier or Vente.

Magnificent copy of Royal provenance.

Other provenances : Chamillart de la Suze (book plate) – Violette Murat (book plate) – G.J. Arvanitidi (book plate) – Marcel Lecomte (book plate).