First English edition of Ludovico di Varthema's famous account of travels to Arabia, Syria, Persia, Ethiopia, India and the East Indies: a highly important and adventurous narrative including his 1503 visit to Mecca and Medina, the first recorded visit of a European (probably of any non-Muslim) to the Islamic holy cities. "Varthema's Itinerario, first published in 1510, had an enormous impact at the time, and in some respects determined the course of European expansion towards the Orient" (Howgego). It is here combined with various other travel accounts, including some taken from a collection by d'Anghiera. Varthema's account became a bestseller as soon as it appeared in 1510 and went through about twenty editions in various languages in the next fifty years. It certainly provided many Europeans with their first glimpse of Islamic culture and of non-European cultures in general.
With a contemporary manuscript table of contents and an occasional marginal manuscript note in the same hand, and the armorial bookplate of Sir Arthur Help (1813-1875). With the first 6 and last 8 leaves in a 19th-century facsimile, but otherwise in good condition, with the head or foot of 4 leaves extended and a few other marginal defects not affecting the text. Binding fine. First English edition of a seminal work on the Middle East. Cox I, p. 2; ESTC S122069; Howgego, to 1800, V15.