POULLET: NOUVELLES RELATION DU LEVANT… UNE EXACTE DESCRIPTION DE L ASIE MINEURE OU NATOLIE,DES DEUX ARMENIES…, PROVINCES MEDITERRANNEES, DE L ASIE, DU ROYAUME DE PERSE, SECONDE PARTIE DES VOYAGES DU SR POULLET. PARIS 1668 First Edition,in small 8vo,contemporary full leather,edges slightly trimmed,text clean and bright,[30],624p.,[24],privilege du Roy dated Mars 1668,the very first printing,overall in very good condition. A cornerstone of 17th-century travel literature. Poullet was a French traveler who set out from Paris in the mid-1600s. Unlike many of his contemporaries who focused only on ancient ruins, Poullet was deeply interested in modern life of the Levant. He traveled by land through Germany and Venice, then through the Balkans to Constantinople. From there, he ventured into Asia Minor, very rarely visited that time,before reaching Armenia and Persia He returned via Palestine and Egypt, eventually reaching Marseille around 1661. In his preface, Poullet famously claims he is not writing for pretentious people who only want to hear about old stones; he wants to explain how the people actually live, govern, and trade. Poullet travels account has been published separately in two parts. First part in 1667 describing his travel through the northern Balkans by land to Constantinople and next year the main part his ventures in Asia Minor, Armenia and the Levant. This book is the second part complete, his adventures in Anatolia and the East. An invaluable, rare account on places completely cut from the Europeans under the Ottoman rule and very little known. Poullet was surprised to discover so many Greeks and Armenians all over Asia Minor, and a multinational society full with interesting traditions.