Rare Book Monthly

Articles - June - 2022 Issue

The True Colours of Tavernier’s travels!

Tavernier's Travels.

Tavernier's Travels.

Exploring the relation of the Middle East explorer Jean Baptiste Tavernier through an unusual copy that was published in 1810 by Lepetit’s widow.

 

In the early part of the year 1631, Jean-Baptiste Tavernier (1605-1689) set his eyes on the magnificent city of Constantinople for the first time of his life—but not the last one. The son of a map seller, he grew up with a fascination for the world elsewhere. He became a tireless traveller and a pioneer in the Eastern trade. In 1676, he published a book—Les Six Voyages de Jean Baptiste Tavernier... It is a classic, and Montesquieu used it to write his Lettres Persanes. Voltaire didn’t rate this book—neither did Diderot, who once stated that Tavernier had taught him how to yawn while reading a travelling book. I was hardly interested myself. But the other day, a special copy made me change my mind.

 

Sometimes, you set your eyes on a book, and it’s love at first sight. There’s no explaining it. Could be the binding, the endpapers, the smell of it... This time, what did the trick was the incredible atlas of the edition of Lepetit’s widow of Tavernier’s travels (Paris, 1810)—more than 150 years after the first edition? I usually know better. As a matter of fact, the preface of the publisher will make you frown: “Let’s admit that Tavernier’s relation is often boring.” Really? “I did my best, eliminating vulgar constructions, shortening tedious descriptions, leaving aside suspicious anecdotes, and making the style as elegant as possible, to give the most accurate description of ancient and modern Persia and Indies.” This, the writer adds, to please mostly “women and children.” Oh my! I should have put it down—but it was too late. I had just caught a glance at the frontispiece— engraved by the famous Tardieu l’Aîné, and representing Tavernier in “his Persian outfit.” And guess what? It’s been hand-coloured at the time! So are the other 21 engravings of the atlas. The folding map of Asia explodes in yellow and blue—Constantinople is green with trees and blue with seawater—the Persian female outfits are gorgeous—the traditional Indian knife is scaring—the golden bas-relief from Persepolis is fascinating! I’ve been looking all over the Internet since—maybe Lepetits’ widow put out all the Atlases that way—hand-coloured? But I couldn’t find any other copy. It seems to be one of a kind copy. Could this edition show, after all, the true colours of Tavernier’s travels?

 

The binder who bound our copy left the half title pages out. A detail? Well, not exactly. As shown by other copies, they read: Bibliothèque portative des voyages. So this book actually comes from a 49-volume collection printed by Lepetit’s widow! The kind of thing that usually annoys me, but this time, it didn’t matter that much. I did yawn a few times reading the book, indeed; but anytime it happened, I’d take a not-so-casual look at the atlas—and here I was, happy all over again. Although not the most entertaining travel book, it made history; and it is the relation of a genuine traveller, who spent his life exploring the world elsewhere he had foreseen as a kid. He went bankrupt at 84, and left for India again! “Death caught up with him in this last travel in July 1689,” the publisher writes. “He was what we call a visionary—not in the good sense of the term.” The famous French satirist Boileau even wrote about his travels: “In front of our mesmerized eyes he brought, The rarest treasures bred by the sun, He didn’t bring anything as “rare” as himself.” Maybe—but this atlas!

 

T. Ehrengardt

Rare Book Monthly

  • RareBookBuyer.com
    We Buy Librairies & Rare Books Nationwide
    ABAA Dealer
    RareBookBuyer.com
    Specialized in Purchasing
    Institutional Collections & Deacccessioned Books
    RareBookBuyer.com
    We Buy Librairies & Rare Books Nationwide
    ABAA Dealer
    RareBookBuyer.com
    Specialized in Purchasing
    Institutional Collections & Deacccessioned Books
    RareBookBuyer.com
    We Buy Librairies & Rare Books Nationwide
    ABAA Dealer
    RareBookBuyer.com
    Specialized in Purchasing
    Institutional Collections & Deacccessioned Books
    RareBookBuyer.com
    We Buy Librairies & Rare Books Nationwide
    ABAA Dealer
    RareBookBuyer.com
    Specialized in Purchasing
    Institutional Collections & Deacccessioned Books
    RareBookBuyer.com
    We Buy Librairies & Rare Books Nationwide
    ABAA Dealer
  • Sotheby's
    Fine Books, Manuscripts & More
    Available for Immediate Purchase
    Sotheby’s: J.R.R. Tolkien. The Lord of the Rings Trilogy. 11,135 USD
    Sotheby’s: Edgar Allan Poe. The Raven and Other Poems, 1845. 33,000 USD
    Sotheby’s: Leo Tolstoy, Clara Bow. War and Peace, 1886. 22,500 USD
    Sotheby’s: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, 1902. 7,500 USD
    Sotheby’s: F. Scott Fitzgerald. This Side of Paradise, The Great Gatsby, and Others, 1920-1941. 24,180 USD
  • Freeman’s | Hindman
    Fine Printed Books and Manuscripts, Including Americana
    November 14
    Freeman’s | Hindman, Nov. 14: LEROUX, Gaston. The Phantom of the Opera. FIRST AM. ED, FIRST ISSUE IN THE VERY RARE DUST JACKET. 1911. $6,000 – 8,000.
    Freeman’s | Hindman, Nov. 14: GOULD, John. A Monograph of the Trochilidae...Humming-Birds. L., [1849-] 1861. $60,000 – 80,000.
    Freeman’s | Hindman, Nov. 14: A COMPLETE RUN of Limited Editions Club publications, v.p. [mostly New York], 1929-2010. $50,000 – 60,000.
    Freeman’s | Hindman, Nov. 14: ORWELL, George. Nineteen Eighty-Four. Lon., 1949. FIRST EDITION IN A VERY FINE DUST JACKET. $6,000 – 8,000.
    Freeman’s | Hindman, Nov. 14: GOULD. A Monograph of the Ramphastidae...Toucans. L., [1852-] 54. SECOND ED. $35,000 – 45,000.
    Freeman’s | Hindman, Nov. 14: The Federalist. NY, 1788. FIRST EDITION, THICK PAPER COPY. $60,000 – 80,000.
    Freeman’s | Hindman, Nov. 14: SELBY. Plates to Selby’s Illustrations of British Ornithology. Edin., [1833-] 34. $20,000 – 30,000.
  • Gros & Delettrez, 7 November:
    APRES DE MANNEVILLETTE
    Le Neptune Oriental
    Gros & Delettrez, 7 November:
    CASSAS
    Eaux fortes de la Sicile et quelques vues d’Espagne
    Gros & Delettrez, 7 November:
    CASSINI DE THURY
    Carte générale et particulière de la France.
    Gros & Delettrez, 7 November:
    JOUY; GARNERAY
    Vues des côtes de France dans l'Océan et dans la Méditerranée
    Gros & Delettrez, 7 November:
    LA PÉROUSE
    Voyage autour du monde
    Gros & Delettrez, 7 November:
    LE GENTIL DE LA GALAISIERE
    Voyage dans les Mers de l’Inde
    Gros & Delettrez, 7 November:
    LICENT
    Hoang Ho, Pai Ho, Loan Ho, Leao Ho. Itinéraires suivis dans le bassin du golfe du Pei Tcheuly
    Gros & Delettrez, 7 November:
    FRENCH SCHOOL FROM THE 19th CENTURY
    Panorama d’Athènes
    Gros & Delettrez, 7 November:
    PEETERS
    Description des principales villes, havres et isles du golfe de Venise
    Gros & Delettrez, 7 November:
    PÉRON; FREYCINET
    Voyage de découverte aux terres australes
    Gros & Delettrez, 7 November:
    STACKELBERG
    La Grèce : vues pittoresques et topographiques.
    Gros & Delettrez, 7 November:
    VALENTINER
    Atlas des Sonnensystems.
  • Forum Auctions
    Online Sale:
    The Detective Fiction Collection of John Cooper
    Ending 7th November, 2024
    Forum, Nov. 7: Christie (Agatha). The Thirteen Problems, first edition, The Crime Club, 1932. £15,000 to £20,000.
    Forum, Nov. 7: Christie (Agatha). Dumb Witness, first edition, 1937. £3,000 to £4,000.
    Forum, Nov. 7: Christie (Agatha). Cards on the Table, first edition, The Crime Club, 1936. £2,000 to £3,000.
    Forum, Nov. 7: [Carr (John Dickson)], "Carter Dickson" and John Rhode. Drop to his Death, first edition, Heinemann, [1939]. £600 to £800.
    Forum, Nov. 7: Berkeley (Anthony). Jumping Jenny, first edition, Hodder and Stoughton, 1933. £800 to £1,200.
    Forum Auctions
    Online Sale:
    The Detective Fiction Collection of John Cooper
    Ending 7th November, 2024
    Forum, Nov. 7: Marsh (Ngaio). Overture to Death, first edition, The Crime Club, 1939. £600 to £800.
    Forum, Nov. 7: [Day-Lewis (Cecil)] "Nicholas Blake". The Beast Must Die, first edition, 1938. £750 to £1,000.
    Forum, Nov. 7: Brand (Christianna). Green for Danger, first edition, signed presentation inscription from the author, John Lane the Bodley Head, 1945. £600 to £800.
    Forum, Nov. 7: Christie (Agatha). Murder is Easy, first edition, signed by the author, 1939. £3,000 to £4,000.
    Forum, Nov. 7: Sayers (Dorothy L.) Lord Peter Views the Body, first edition, Gollancz, 1928. £6,000 to £8,000.

Article Search

Archived Articles

Ask Questions