Travels in the Levant
Subtitle: the observations of Pierre Belon of Le Mans on many singularities and memorable things found in Greece, Turkey, Judaea, Egypt, Arabia and other foreign countries (1553)
By: text established and presented by Alexandra Merle ; English translation by James Hogarth
Contributors: Merle, Alexandra, writer of supplementary textual content; Hogarth, James, translator
Series: Travellers in the wider Levant
Publisher: Hardinge Simpole
Published: 2012
Place of publication: Kilkerran, Scotland
Language: eng
Translated from: fre
Number of pages: 583
ISBN-13: 9781843821960
Subjects: Description and travel; Early works to 1800; Natural history; Pre-Linnean works; Travel; History
Other titles: Observations of Pierre Belon of Le Mans on many singularities and memorable things found in Greece, Turkey, Judaea, Egypt, Arabia and other foreign countries (1553); Observations of many singularities and memorable things found in Greece, Asia, Judaea, Egypt, Arabia, and other foreign countries, in three books
Work titles: Observations de plusieurs singularitez et choses memorables trouvées en Grèce, Asie, Judée, Egypte, Arabie & autres pays étranges
Description: "In 1546, Pierre Belon - already a naturalist of some renown - travelled to Constantinople in the entourage of the French Ambassador to Suleiman the Magnificent. En route, he visited Venice, Ragusa, Corfu and Crete, and over the next two years travelled throughout the Ottoman domains, - to Egypt, Anatolia, Arabia, and the Holy Land - returning to France in 1549. Wherever he went, Belon described plants, birds, mammals and fish, and recorded the customs of the inhabitants - what they ate, how they reared their children - collecting information on almost every aspect of the lands through which he passes. He did not rely on hearsay, on previous accounts, or on authority: what we have are his own observations, and the result of assiduous questioning and meticulous recording. His Observations, 'written in our ordinary French tongue', were published in 1553. In April 1564, Pierre Belon was murdered by persons unknown while crossing the Bois de Boulogne. Although Pierre Belon is well known as a naturalist, and - with his treatises on fish and birds - as a founder of comparative anatomy, his Observations have not previously appeared, in full, in English"--
Notes: Translation of the French edition published in 2001: Voyage au Levant : les observations de Pierre Belon du Mans : de plusieurs singularités & choses mémorables, trouvées en Grèce, Turquie, Judée, Egypte, Arabie & autres pays étranges, 1553. Paris : Chandeigne.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 497-502) and indexes.