WORKS ISSUED BY
The Hakluyt Society
__________
THE TRAVELS OF
LUDOVICO DI VARTHEMA
M.DCCC.LXIII.
WORKS ISSUED BY
The Hakluyt Society
__________
THE TRAVELS OF
LUDOVICO DI VARTHEMA
M.DCCC.LXIII.
THE TRAVELS
OF
LUDOVICO DI VARTHEMA
IN
EGYPT, SYRIA, ARABIA DESERTA AND ARABIA FELIX,
IN PERSIA, INDIA, AND ETHIOPIA,
A. D. 1503 TO 1508.
Translated
FROM THE ORIGINAL ITALIAN EDITION OF 1510,
WITH A PREFACE,
BY
JOHN WINTER JONES, Esq., F.S.A.,
And Edited
WITH NOTES AND AN INTRODUCTION,
BY
GEORGE PERCY BADGER,
LATE GOVERNMENT CHAPLAIN IN THE PRESIDENCY OF BOMBAY,
AUTHOR OF "THE NESTORIANS AND THEIR RITUALS,"
ETC., ETC., ETC.
____
WITH A MAP.
______
LONDON:
PRINTED FOR THE HAKLUYT SOCIETY.
M.DCCC.LXIII.
LONDON: T. RICHARDS. 37, GREAT QUEEN STREET.
TO THE
RIGHT HONOURABLE
SIR CHARLES WOOD, BART., G.C.B.,
HER MAJESTY'S SECRETARY OF STATE FOR INDIA,
THIS EDITION
OF THE EASTERN TRAVELS OF
LUDOVICO DI VARTHEMA,
AT THE BEGINNING OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY,
IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED
BY THE EDITOR,
COUNCIL
OF
THE HAKLUYT SOCIETY.
_________
SIR RODERICK IMPEY MURCHISON, G.C.St.S., F.R.S., D.C.L., Corr. Mem. Inst. F.,
Hon. Mem. Imp. Acad. Sc. St. Petersburg, etc., etc., PRESIDENT.
R EAR -A DMIRAL C. R. DRINKWATER BETHUNE, C.B.
THE RT. HON. SIR DAVID DUNDAS, M.P. } VICE-PRESIDENTS.
J. BARROW, Esq., F.R.S.
RT. HON. LORD BROUGHTON.
CAPTAIN CRACROFT, R.N.
SIR HENRY ELLIS, K.H., F.R.S.
JOHN FORSTER, Esq.
R. W. GREY, Esq, M.P.
T. HODGKIN, Esq., M.D.
JOHN WINTER JONES, Esq., F.S.A.
HIS EXCELLENCY THE COUNT DE LAVRADIO.
R. H. MAJOR, Esq., F.S.A.
SIR CHARLES NICHOLSON, BART.
SIR ERSKINE PERRY.
MAJOR-GENERAL SIR HENRY C. RAWLINSON, K.C.B.
WILLIAM STIRLING, Esq., M.P.
CLEMENTS R. MARKHAM, Esq., HONORARY SECRETARY
DIRECTIONS TO THE BINDER.
___
Map of Varthema's route . . . . . . to face title-page.
Section from Gastaldi's Map . . . . . „ page cxx.
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
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PREFACE BY THE TRANSLATOR.
This translation made from the first Italian edition of 1510; truthful-
ness of Varthema's narrative, and simplicity of his style; later- editions more or less faulty; the present version intended to be a faithful representative of the original text; Varthema's work imme- diately attracted attention, i-iii. Different editions and translations enumerated: Italian; Latin; German; Spanish; French; Dutch; English, iii-xvi.
INTRODUCTION BY THE EDITOR.
Deficiency of all the authorities as to Varthema's antecedents, xvii; not
supplied by allusions in his dedication, xix; notice of the Lady Agnesina, Duchess of Albi and Tagliacozzo, to whom he dedicates, xix; Ramusio's preface has no information, and his edition a third-hand version, xxi; particulars derivable with more or less certainty from the narrative itself, xxii; his motives for travelling, xxiii ; character of his narrative, xxiii; scanty recompense, xxiv.
Date of his leaving Europe, xxv; remarks on his notices of Cairo and
Egypt
