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[La ROQUE, Jean de] Viaggio Nell Arabia Felice . negli anni 1708. 1709. e 1710. Con la relazione . d un Viaggio . degli anni 1711. 1712. & 1713. Finalmente Una memoria spettante l albero, e frutto del Caffè . e progresso del Caffè si nell Asia, come nell Europa. Venice, Sebastian Coleti, 12mo.[8]+297+[7]p. With engraved folding map of the Yemen and surrounding countries and 3 folding plates showing the coffee plant engraved by A. Luciano. Original decorative publisher s wrappers, untrimmed. The first edition in Italian of the findings of two French exploratory voyages to Arabia (1708-1713), published by Jean de la Roque. The second voyage was made exclusively to the Yemen. This influential account, based on letters by Captain de la Merville who led the first expedition, and on reports by other participants, was intended to promote direct trade with the Yemen. La Roque was particularly interested in investigating the possibility of purchasing coffee which the French at that time obtained mostly from the Levant. It was for this reason that he added an extensive monograph on coffee as the second part of his narrative of the voyages with detailed illustrations of the plant, its blossom, fruit and bean, carefully drawn after nature.This treatise is remarkable for providing the first descriptions of the coffee plantations and the coffee trade of Arabia based on reports by three French physicians who took part in the second voyage; De la Grelaudière, who travelled over land from Mocha to cure the Imam of Yemen, and the two ship surgeons de Noiers and Barbier. As the author also gives an comprehensive account of the history of the coffee drink and its introduction into France, his work can be regarded as the first scholarly treatise on the origins of coffee both in the Near East and in Europe. The interest taken in the voyages and their commercial implications following the first publication of this work in 1715 led to its translation into the major languages. The finely executed engraved plates facing p202 illustrate coffee leaves; the plate facing p207 shows the branch, blossom and fruit of the coffee tree. With a table of contents and index at the end. An exceptionally fine, fresh copy in its original state. Hattox, 'Coffee and Coffeehouses. The Origins of a Social Beverage in the Medieval Near East'(1985), p84 and plates 1 & 2; Hünersdorff, 'Coffee: A Bibliography', p1287-88; Kress S.3010; Mueller, p181; Schnyder-v.Waldkirch, pp236 & 242. N° de réf. du vendeur 4154
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