Coryat's Crudities, in Two Volumes: Hastily Gobled Up in Five Moneths Travells in France, Savoy, Italy, Rhetia Commonly Called the Grisons Country, Helvetia Alias Switzerland, Some Parts of High Germany and the Netherlands; Newly Digested in the Hungry A…

Complete in two volumes. xx, [2], 427, [1]; xi, [1], 435, [1] pp. 8vo. 1905 reissue of the work originally published in 1611 (Pine-Coffin 608). A travel memoir of journeys through Europe and Asia by the British writer, who often traveled on foot. Among the number of interesting accomplishments to his credit are the introduction of the table fork to England, and the introduction of the word 'umbrella' to the English language (gleaned from his description of Italians shielding themselves from the sun). The voyage Coryat describes began in 1608, and spanned France, Italy, Germany, and other parts of Europe, and is notable as the earliest appearance in English of the legend of William Tell, and as a strong impetus to the development of the Grand Tour (i.e., the habit of wealthy young Europeans to tour the continent as a rite of passage). This facsimile is only the fifth edition of the work to be published (following the first edition, two reprints, and a 1776 facsimile), and one of only two to include Coryat's later trip to Persia and India. Though the title page does not mention these specifically, the second volume also includes accounts of travels in Strasburg, Heidelberg, Worms, Mayence, Frankfort, Cologne, and Gelderland. Includes nine plates (four of which are fold-outs), among them facsimiles of the engraved and printed title page of the 1611 edition.