View of Ispahan (Spahan or Isfahan)

This fascinating engraving is from Cornelius Le Bruyn (Bruijn)’s Travels into Muscovy, Persia, and Part of the East-Indies… This first English edition was published in 1737 in London by A. Bettesworth & C. Hitch.

Le Bruyn left for this trans-Asia expedition in 1701 at the age of 50, taking seven years to reach the East-Indies “by way of Muscovy & Persia.” It detailed the most important parts of each country including their cities, native people, natural flora and fauna, and antiquities.

Le Bruyn was a Dutch artist and traveler. He was a painter for emperor Peter the Great as well. Of particular interest are his descriptions of Nizhny Novgorod and his drawings of Persepolis, a city destroyed by Alexander the Great. Also, his talent for landscapes is truly present in two large panoramas of Moscow & “Spahan”.