First edition in German of Pietro della Valle's deservedly famous narrative of his travels in the Middle East, with an excellent account of Muscat and the Arabian Gulf and reference to Dibba. Della Valle arrived in Istanbul in August 1614, spending a year to explore the city. He continued to Rhodes, Alexandria, Rosetta, Cairo, crossing the Sinai desert to Jerusalem, Damascus and Aleppo. From there he proceeded to Isfahan (Iran) to meet the Safavid ruler Shah Abbas I. He sojourned in Persia until early 1623, witnessing and commenting on the escalating conflict between Shah Abbas and the Portuguese empire. By way of India he sailed for Muscat in January 1623, from where crossed the Arabian Gulf to Basra, continuing overland to Aleppo, arriving in Europe in 1626. "Della Valle displayed excellent narrative and descriptive skills, powers of acute observation, and a genuinely scholarly breadth of learning." (Gurney).
Engraved armorial bookplate on paste-down. Evenly browned throughout, some spotting, a few quires in volume 3 with wormholes in gutter margin, not affecting the text, otherwise in very good condition. VD17 39:135561Q; cf. Atabey 1269-1271; Blackmer 1712; Gurney, "Della Valle, Pietro", in: Encyclopaedia Iranica (online ed.).