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First published in 1999. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.
List of contents
Acknowledgements Introduction Edward Webb : The rare and most wonderful things (1590) William Harbourne : 'The Voyage of Susan of London to Constantinople' (1596) Richard Wragge : 'A description of a voyage to Constantinople and Syria' (1958) Anthony Sherley : Sir Anthony Sherley his relation of his travels into Persia (1601) William Biddulph : The travels of certaine Englishmen (1609) John Cartwright : The Preacher's Travels (1611) George Sayndys : A Relation of a Journey (1615) Fynes Moryson : An Itinerary (1617) William Lithgow The totall discourse of the rare adventures (1632) Henry Blount : A breife relation of a journey (1636) Sir Thomas Herbert : Some yeers travel into divers parts (1677) Appendices Index.
About the author
Kenneth Parker is Emeritus Professor and formerly Head of the Cultural Studies Graduate Centre, University of East London, UK.
Summary
Early Modern Tales of Orient is the first volume to collect together these travellers' tales and make them available to today's students and scholars. By introducing a fascinating array of accounts (of exploration, diplomatic, and commercial ventures), Kenneth Parker challenges widely-held assumptions about Early Modern encounters in the Orient. The documents assembled in Early Modern Tales of Orient have extraordinary resonance for us today. Many of the discourses which in part, emerged from those early encounters - such as Islamophobia, English Nationalism, and the Catholic/Protestant divide - are still active in contemporary society. This volume sheds a unique light on the development of a very English interest in 'the exotic'.
