GABRIEL DE CHINON: RELATIONS NOUVELLES DU LEVANT. LYON 1671 First and only edition.Small 8vo,contemporary full leather rubbed,text with light scattered spotting and very light marginal stain in few pages,generally clean and quite bright,complete the narrative [22],481p.[10],overall in very good condition Gabriel de Chinon was a Capuchin friar in a mission to the Levant, unlike many travelers of the Levant who only passed through, Chinon lived in the Levant for decades, mostly in the Safavid Empire, primarily in Isfahan and Tabriz. He died and was buried in Yerevan, Armenia. The work is highly valued because Chinon’s long residency allowed him to provide much deeper ethnographic detail than the average European visitor. A large portion of the book is dedicated to the religious practices of the groups he encountered,the Orthodox Greeks,the Armenians,the Muslims and even Zoroastrians It describes the daily lives, court etiquette, and legal systems of the people. Chinon was fluent in local languages and as he travelled frequently and extensively to and from different Capuchin missions in the Levant provide invaluable information for the roads system,specially in Anatolia.To reach his main mission in Armenia used or the Pontos sea road, through Trebizond,to arrive in Armenia or the long land road through Anatolia.Both were very rarely visited by Europeans in 17th century and provide unique information for the Greek and Armenian populations in Asia Minor.Very rare account.