Voyages en Afrique, Asie, Indes Orientales et Occidentales, faits par Jean Mocquet

New edition, after the very rare first edition of 1617.
Contemporary full brown sheep binding. Smooth spine decorated with restoration tools, roulettes and multiple fillets. Havana morocco title label. Framing frieze on boards. Central medallion with the emblem of the Hallays-Dabon Institution (famous educational institute in Paris). Joints restored as well as the upper headcap, some cracks remain visible but the volume is now solid. 2 corners slightly bumped. Overall rubbed. Scattered foxing.
Mocquet, apothecary to the king, obtained authorization from King Henri IV to travel in order to bring back curiosities to supply the royal collections. Over a period of eleven years, Mocquet made six voyages; the first to the western coast of Africa in 1602; the second, to Cape Verde, Brazil on the Amazon and to Guiana (January-August 1604); the third to Portugal and Morocco (April 1605 - March 1606); the fourth to Mozambique and as far as Goa (1610); then, the fifth to Syria and Palestine (September 1611 - July 1612), and the last to Spain, not without bringing back to the king each time numerous curiosities of all kinds, to which the author bears witness. Endowed with profound curiosity, the author's travel narrative is full of singular details and anecdotes. The whole is not without critical spirit, notably on Morocco, and the Portuguese in Goa, or commerce. It is a most agreeable and entertaining account of a traveler from the very beginning of the 17th century.