CHARDIN (Jean). Voyages en Perse et autres lieux de l'Orient. Amsterdam, Jean Louis de Lorme, 1711. 3 volumes in-4, spotted calf, filleted spine, mottled edges (Binding of the period). Partly first edition, and the first complete, of this famous travel report offering one of the best early descriptions of Persia. The first volume contains the account of Chardin's journey from Paris to Isfahan - published in London in 1686 under the title Journal du voyage en Perse et aux Indes orientales; the second, a general description of the Persian Empire; the third, a description of the city of Isfahan and the account of two journeys by the author from Isfahan to Bandar Abbas. The illustrations include a frontispiece portrait, a fold-out map and 77 plates of views, costumes, inscriptions, antiquities, etc., most of which are fold-outs. The son of a Calvinist goldsmith, Jean Chardin (1643-1713) travelled to the Orient in 1665 to trade in jewellery. He crossed Persia, sailed to Surat and, after a short stay in India, returned to Isfahan, where he stayed for six years as a merchant to Shah Abbas II, learning the Persian language and culture. He joined the English East India Company and was plenipotentiary to the States of Holland from 1683 to 1712. The account of his travels in Persia is still an indispensable source of information on Persian culture and civilisation at the end of the 17th century. From the library of the Friars Minor of Quebec, with wet and dry stamps on the titles. Bindings restored, spine rebound, foxing and dampstaining, some leaves yellowed, title of volume I repaired but not missing, some engravings torn but not missing. Chadenat, n°35 - Cox, I, 250 - Atabey, n°219 - Howgego C102.