Travels into Turkey: Containing the most accurate Account of the Turks, and neighbouring Nations, their Manners, Customs, Religion, Superstition, Policy, Riches, Coins, &c. [...] Translated from the original Latin [...] With Memoirs of the Life of the illustrious Author,

Bookseller Notes

The second appearance in English of Busbecq's Turkish Letters, one of the most important sources for the sixteenth-century Ottoman Court. The illegitimate son of a Flemish nobleman, Ogier Ghiselin de Busbecq (1522-92) was appointed ambassador by Ferdinand I to Suleiman the Magnificent (1494-1566) in the 1550s. His correspondence with Hungarian diplomat Nicholas Michault formed the basis for this work, which was first published in Latin in the 1580s, before appearing in English in 1694. In addition to the wealth of incidental information about Constantinople - the people, the court, the buildings and the food - Busbecq's account of Suleiman is one of only a handful based on face to face encounters. Busbecq was a numismatist and collector of manuscripts, as well as a reputed herbalist and naturalist; he wrote in enormous detail about the plant and animal life he encountered in Turkey, and is credited with sending some of the first Turkish tulip bulbs to the Low Countries.