ODORIC DE PORDENONE: LES VOYAGES EN ASIE AU XIV SIECLE DU FRERE ODORIC DE PORDENONE. PARIS 1891 First scientific edition, by Henry Cordier, in very large 4to,fine green contemporary leather over boards preserving original paper covers, a luxurious binding, text clean and bright, complete 602p.,55 plates (photos of manuscripts,woodcuts etc) and one folded map, overall in almost mint condition, a lovely copy. Cordier didn't just reprint the text of Odoric (printed since the early 16th century); he provided a massive critical apparatus, including a detailed biography of Odoric, geographical notes, and a bibliography of all known manuscripts.Odoric was a Franciscan friar who traveled to the East between 1318 and 1330. He traveled via Constantinople and the Black Sea to Persia, then by sea to India, Southeast Asia and finally reached China. Of the utmost importance is the first section of the book dealing (around 20 pages) with the Pontic Empire of Trebizond.Odoric arrived in Trebizond in 1318, then capital of the Empire of MegaloKomninoi and provide a very rare account for this part of Medieval Hellenism, completely cut from the rest of the Greek world then by the contemporary Turkish conquest of the rest of Asia Minor. Interestingly, portions of The Voiage and Travaile of Sir John Maundeville (see following lot 28) were actually plagiarized directly from Odoric’s much more factual account. It is famous for containing a folding map of Odoric's route and facsimiles of miniatures from medieval manuscripts, most notably from the Livre des Merveilles. These scholarly editions were usually printed in relatively small numbers for libraries and serious academics, making them scarce today.