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Very rare first edition of the first European account of Russia, one of a handful of secular incunable travelogues in a vernacular language, and one of an even a smaller number to be published contemporaneously - within a year of the trip's completion. It also includes one of the most important early accounts of Persia, with which it is chiefly concerned. Contarini travelled between 1474 and 1477 and published his account in 1478. Although preceded by the voyages of Polo and Pordenone, Contarini's account is far more detailed. Furthermore, those earlier accounts, of which only Polo's was published before Contarini's, describe medieval voyages undertaken a hundred and two hundred years earlier, respectively. Only two copies are located in American libraries (Morgan and Bell), twelve copies listed worldwide in ISTC, and no recorded copy on the market. Although there is no evidence that Columbus knew the work, there is a copy in the Colombina in Seville, suggesting that from the vantage point of the early sixteenth century, it was deemed an essential travel book. Ambrogio Contarini (1429–1499) was dispatched to the court of Uzun Hasan (given as "Uxuncassam" in the title) in February 1474 with the aim of securing for Venice an ally against the Turks. This was the third such mission in as many years, and as the Persian forces had already suffered substantial losses at the hands of the Ottoman, Uzun Hasan declined the Venetian proposal to continue the war. Both Contarini and a second ambassador, Giosafat Barbaro (1413–1494), spent at least a year at the Persian court. Contarini's account provides first-hand information about the cosmopolitan court and documents the contemporary boundaries of "the extensive country of Uzun Hasan", which stretched east from the Ottoman Empire and included Azerbaijan, Iraq, and sizeable provinces to the south. "In June 1475 Contarini left Uzun and Barbaro in Tabriz and set out homewards. On reaching the Black Sea at Poti, however, he learned that the Turks had captured Kaffa: this intelligence disrupted all his plans and threw him into despair, bringing on a fever which was nearly fatal" (Penrose, p. 26). He recovered sufficiently to continue his journey, wintering first at Derbend on the Caspian, and then making a hazardous trip to Astrakhan and up the Volga. This brought him to Moscow, where he spent the next winter. His published account of the city (Chapter 8) was the first by a foreigner. Contarini followed an overland route to Venice, finally reaching home on 10 April 1477. "As a merchant-ambassador, Contarini was clearly intrigued by Muscovy's apparent wealth. He informed his readers that the country was rich in produce of every type, all of which could be purchased at a low price. Contarini paid special attention to the Russian fur trade, noting that it was being exploited by Germans and Poles, but unfortunately not by his countrymen. Nonetheless, he was critical of the Muscovites and their institutions. He wrote that the grand prince controlled a large territory and could field a sizeable army, although he believed the Russians to be worthless soldiers. The people were handsome but 'brutal', and inclined to while away the day in drinking and feasting. The Russians were Christians, but their chief priest was a creature of the grand prince and he believed that Catholics were 'doomed to perdition'. Despite this mild censure, Contarini obviously saw nothing out of the ordinary in Muscovy. He did not call the grand prince a tyrant, the Russian people barbarians, or the Orthodox church apostate" (Poe, p. 17). Contarini is particularly engaging when he describes what might be called the "mechanics" and conditions of travel - generally appalling. He specifically names the members of his party (when he departs, a priest, a translator, two servants), days spent travelling or passed in particular cities, how they dressed in particular locales, such details as how he and the priest had their travel funds sewn up in their skirts, and so on. He is alert to the danger of travel, is subject to robbery or extortion many times, and was effectively held hostage while in Russia. Illness, and serious illness, as suggested above, was common. All this makes the account more true to life and more vivid than is often the case in the earliest travel narratives. The work was republished in 1524 (copies only at Yale and Bell). A third edition was reissued in 1543 to counterbalance reports of Portuguese activities in the East, and indeed Contarini's reliable (i.e. Venetian) account was republished repeatedly over the next 60 years to provide an Italian perspective on Russia and the Persian Empire. It also appeared in several voyage collections, including the Aldine compilation edited by Manuzio. Exceedingly rare: no copies traced in auction in the past one hundred years; ISTC locates twelve holding institutions worldwide. Provenance: Doge Marco Foscarini (1696-1763), with his large gilt supralibros on covers. Foscarini wrote a history of Venetian literature and in 1759 was elected a member of the Royal Society. READ MORE Quarto (204 x 142 mm): a-f4; 23 (of 24) leaves, unnumbered, lacking blank a1 as often. Early 18th-century red morocco, decorative gilt spine with acorn motifs, black morocco label, sides with gilt foliate border, gilt edge roll, Nonpareil pattern marbled endpapers, gilt edges. Housed in a custom black quarter morocco solander box. Bookplate removed from front pastedown. Spine a little worn, label chipped, a few old repairs to binding, pale brown stain to most leaves, occcasional finger soiling, paper flaw in final leaf causing some smudging to a few letters in the colophon, yet this remains a very good copy. BMC V 408; Goff C867a; GW 7443; H(Add)C 5673*; ISTC ic00867500; Klebs 303.1; Pr 5013; Wilson p. 47. Boies Penrose, Travel and Discovery in the Renaissance, 1420-1620, 1962; Marshall Poe, A People Born to Slavery: Russia in Early Modern European Ethnograph.

Viaggio ad Ussum Hassan re de Persia, also known as the Journey to Uzun Hasan, King of Persia, is an account by Ambrogio Contarini of his travels to Persia in the 15th century. The book provides a fascinating insight into the political and cultural landscape of Persia during that period.