Relation D’Un Voyage Du Levant

External appearance and illustrations

Relation D’Un Voyage Du Levant, Fait Par Ordre Du Roy (A voyage into the Levant, perform’d by command of the late French king) is 19 cm (width) x 24 cm (height). The cover is worn.

This is the 1st of 2 volumes. It is a uniquely significant and rare book, as it contains a number of etchings depicting the islands of the Aegean Sea and the inhabitants of the Ottoman Empire at the time.

It also includes geographical representations of great importance for the period and is one of the most important cultural touring books of the 18th century.

A voyage into the Eastern Mediterranean

Joseph Pitton de Tournefort (1656-1708) was a French botanist and a traveller. He was an acute observer of the East.

In the end of the 17th century he embarked on a voyage to the Ottoman Empire at the order of Luis XIV. The goal of the mission was to gather information on the:

• Flora and fauna of the Eastern Mediterranean and Asia Minor.
• Commercial activities in the area and, specifically, the position and prospects for French merchants.

Tournefort started his voyage in 1669 along with botanist and doctor Andreas von Gundelsheimer (1668-1715) and illustrator Claude Aubriet (1651-1743), who was an expert in the artistic representation of flora and fauna.

The travellers visited Crete, the Cyclades, Mykonos and other islands of the Aegean Sea, Istanbul and the southern Black Sea, Asia Minor, Armenia and Georgia. The voyage lasted until 1702.

Accurate information and artistic representations

Tournefort’s text is in the form of a letter to Louis II Phélypeaux de Pontchartrain (1643-1727), who financed the mission. The account is typified by:

• High degree of accuracy of factual information.
• Exhaustive botanical and zoological descriptions.

The drawings created by Aubriet include representations of local costumes, the flora and the fauna, landscapes, sketches and maps.

A popular opus

Relation D’Un Voyage Du Levant, Fait Par Ordre Du Roy was published in 1717. It is one of the most important cultural touring books of the 18th century on the East.

The book was very popular, as it was printed in:

• 4 editions in French (2-volume 1717, 3-volume 1717, 1718, and 1727).
• 2 editions in English (1718, 1741).
• 1 edition in Dutch (1737), 1 in Swedish (1772) and 1 in German (1776-1777).

Excerpts from the book were featured in a number of collections of books on cultural touring and included in fictional recounts of travels in the Eastern Mediterranean.

The Grand Tour

In the 18th and 19th century, many young, wealthy European aristocrats travelled all over Greece and the Eastern Mediterranean. They were accompanied by friends, servants, tutors, doctors, artists and scientists. This type of travelling was called the “Grand Tour”.

In their visits to Greece, the travellers:

• Engaged in nature-watching.
• Admired ancient ruins and monuments.
• Expressed interest in native traditions and behaviours.
• Drew inspiration from Greek philosophy and were charmed by Greek mythology.

Then, the travellers would write an account of their impressions, drawing pictures and paintings of everything they had seen. However, oftentimes they also composed quite complex scientific works.

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