De’ Nicolai Nicolo (De Nicolay Nicolas) - Le Navigationi Et Viaggi, Fatti Nella Turchia - 1580

VERY IMPORTANT AND SOUGHT-AFTER BOOK ABOUT TRAVELS IN TURKEY67 BIG FULL PAGE VERY DETAILED AND CHARMING COPPER ENGRAVINGSDE’ NICOLAI NICOLO (DE NICOLAY NICOLAS) LE NAVIGATIONI ET VIAGGI, FATTI NELLA TURCHIAdi Nicolo de’ Nicolai del delfinato, signor d’Arfevilla, Cameriere, & Geografo ordinario del Re di Francia, con diverse singolarità viste, & osservate in quelle parti dall’Autore. Nuovamente tradotto di Francese in Italiano da FRANCESCO FLORI da Lilla, Aritmetico. Con sessantasette figure naturali, si d’huomini come di donne, secondo le varietà delle nationi, de’ i loro portamenti, de’ gesti, de’ gli habiti, delle leggi, de’ riti, de’ costumi, & de’ modi del vivere in tempo di pace & di guerra. VENETIA (1580) - Francesco Ziletti1 volume in-FOLIO (298 mm x 200 mm i. e. 11. 7 by 7. 9 inches) . [24] , 192 p. (without last blank leaf) 67 WONDERFUL full page copper engravings. Old vellum with gilt title on spine. Some stain on the boards (see photo) . Internal of the book in very good condition without any remarkable defect (only a very slight soiling in the lower right corner (see photos) . Small faded stain, barely visible (see photo) at the lower margin of page 159. VERY NICE COPY. THE MOST BEAUTIFUL AND SOUGHT-AFTER EDITION AND THE FIRST IN-FOLIO of this attractive travel work printed in 1576 for the first time and reprinted the year after. In the previous editions only 60 woodcuts were present: in this edition, 7 pictures appears for the first time. All the 67 table are COPPER ENGRAVED and, therefore, MUCH MORE DETAILED AND CHARMING. Nicolai (1517 – 1583) , geographer of king Henry II, wrote this book after his journey with the French ambassador Gabriel de Luels, lord of Aramon. In the first part (first and second book) the travel and the mishaps are described detailing the various stopping place (Algiers, Malta, Tripoli, etc.) ; in the second part (third and fourth book) the peoples, the traditions, the towns, the clothes, etc. are described (very interesting the chapter XXI “De’ bagni, & Modi di lavare de’Turchi” i. e. “the baths and how the Turks wash themselves”) . The many engravings show, with an extreme degree of detail, the clothes of a great number of personages: the Persian gentleman, the moor slave, the religious Turkish dervish (“che si fa tagli per la vita” i. e. “that cuts his body”) , the Turkish religious “Tarlachi” (that “si cuoprono à guisa di mantello, d’una grande, & intera spoglia d’orso col pelo” i. e. , more or less, cover their body with a bearskin) , ecc. In the last part of the work there are references (and engravings) to people from Iran, Arabia, Greece and Armenia. Another part (with several engravings) deals with Islam and to pilgrimage to Mecca. Very nice the engravings of pilgrims (page 119) and of “Saccasi” (page 121) , people that offer water to pilgrims in a cup containing chalcedony and lapis lazuli (so it appears clearer and more delightful…) . With another hand the “Saccasi” hold a mirror that point to the pilgrim encouraging him to think to death…Here after we report a very curious abstract regarding the sect of “Calendri” who insert a big ring in their penis in order to observe the chastity (people not familiar with the Italian language, should simply have a look to the relevant engraving) : “Vestono questi Calendri una gonnella assi corta, & senza maniche, à guisa d’una haire alla Francese, ò in Italiano giubbone aspro, che si mettono sopra la carne per penitenza, tessuta di lana, & di setole di cavallo; ne lasciano crescere i loro capelli, come fanno i Geomailer, anzi fanno radersi tutto il pelo, coprendo il capo con certi capelli di feltro, come sono quelli de’ Preti di Grecia: intorno de’ quali applicano frange, che pendono longhe un dito, molto forte, & dure, perche sono fatte di setole di cavallo. Portano à gli orecchi grosse anella di ferro, & similmente al collo, & alle braccia: & si passano la pelle del membro genitale con un’anello d’argento assai grosso, & di peso: Il che fanno per osservare castità se non volontariamente almeno per forza. ”