Monconys (Balthasar de) Voyages de M de Moncanys…, 5

Monconys (Balthasar de)

Voyages de M de Moncanys…, 5 vol., engraved frontispiece, 51 engraved plates, occasional foxing and staining, 2 small holes in vol. 3 title, text unaffected, some plates loose, modern carta rustica, new end papers, 12mo, [not in Sabin], Pierre Delaulne, Paris, 1695.

*** Balthasar de Monconys (1611–1665) was a French traveller, diplomat, physicist and magistrate. He left a diary documenting his travels to Portugal, England, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and the Near East (visiting Baalbek in 1647). Monconys twice paid a visit to Delft, being the only person, besides Pieter Teding van Berckhout, who met Vermeer, on 11 August 1663, and wrote down an eyewitness account of Vermeer's paintings, during the artist's lifetime.