London: W[illiam] S[tansby, for the author,], 1611. From the library of a notable bibliophile First edition of this extraordinary travelogue, written by "Odd Tom" Coryate, "writer, eccentric, wit, and one of the most tireless, inquisitive, and courageous of all English travellers" (Strachan, p. 1). This is a particularly handsome complete copy; the Pforzheimer catalogue notes that "perfect copies with the plates intact are not common". Thomas Coryate (1577?-1617) was educated at Winchester and Gloucester Hall, Oxford, leaving without a degree but with "a retentive memory, much learning, excellent knowledge of Greek and Latin texts, fondness for rhetoric, aptitude for histrionics, curiosity to see the world, and a thirst for personal fame" (ODNB). Through good family connections he joined the household of Henry, prince of Wales, James I's eldest son, to whom he became an unofficial court jester. In May 1608 he sailed for Calais and made his way to Paris, then travelling, often on foot, to Venice, before returning to England in October, finally hanging up his shoes in the church at Odcombe in Somerset, the village in which he was born (he signs his Epistle to the Reader, "the Odcombian Legge-stretcher"). His expedition had taken in France, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, and the Netherlands; Coryate was "one of very few Englishmen from this period who travelled overseas for reasons unconnected to diplomacy, religion, or trade" (Beirouti). His narrative has many points of historical interest. His description of how Italians shielded themselves from the sun resulted in what is thought to be the first mention of "umbrella" in English literature. He acquired a table fork, almost unknown in England, and imitated the Italian fashion of eating. While in Switzerland he heard the story of William Tell, and his admirable rendering is cited as the earliest in English. The book is also celebrated for its selection of mock-panegyric verses by the most illustrious authors of the day, including Jonson, Chapman, Donne, Campion, Harington, Drayton and others. The "crudities" of the title is a punning reference to "half-digested food, awash in an alimentary soup", an expression employed by Coryate's fellow Bankside wit Ben Jonson in his 1614 play Bartholomew Fair (Boehrer, p. 199)/ Provenance: Henry Hucks Gibbs, first Baron Aldenham (1819-1907), merchant and merchant banker, governor of the Bank of England (1875-77), with his fine armorial bookplate. A "noted bibliophile with a celebrated library" (ODNB), Gibbs edited a number of works for the Early English Text Society and the Roxburghe Club, and was an active member of the Philological Society; with his ownership inscription to a preliminary blank alluding to his London residence ("St Dunstan's 1883"), and his pencilled note "bought of Ellis, £42" (Frederick Startridge Ellis, official buyer for the British Museum, editor of the catalogue for the famous Huth library; he retired from business in 1885); this copy of Coryate (bound in "green morocco extra" is listed at p. 41 in the catalogue of the Gibbs library compiled by himself). Quarto (208 x 148 mm). Engraved title page by William Hole incorporating a portrait of the author, 4 engraved plates (2 folding), showing the Heidelberg Tun, Strasbourg astronomical clock, amphitheatre at Verona, and Coryate meeting a Venetian courtesan, the last 2 by William Hole, full-page engraved portrait on p. 496 of Frederick IV, Elector Palatine, full-page woodcut of the Prince of Wales's crest, large crest of William Herbert, earl of Pembroke, on 2B2 verso, small woodcut of Coryate's shoes within a laurel wreath on k4 recto, woodcut initials and headpieces. Late 19th-century dark green morocco, spine with five raised bands, compartments richly gilt, lettered direct in second and third compartments, gilt French fillet concentric panels to covers, foliate cornerpieces, gilt paired fillets to board edges, gilt turn-ins, swirled Nonpareil pattern endpapers, gilt edges. Neatly erased early ownership inscription at head of printed title, binding just a little rubbed at extremities, initial gatherings assembled in a muddled order but complete, a couple of plates shaved a little close, some leaves with pale tidemark at upper margin, one plate with minor repair to lower margin and small tear at inner margin of pp. 13-14 (not affecting image or text). An attractive copy, clean, complete, and well-margined. Pforzheimer 218; Wing C5808; Keynes, Donne, 70. Charles Beirouti, "A Backpacker in the Age of Shakespeare: Thomas Coryate at the Court of the Mughal Emperor", MEMOs Medieval and Early Modern Orients website, 2021; Bruce Thomas Boehrer, The Fury of Men's Gullets: Ben Jonson and the Digestive Canal, 1997; Henry Hucks Gibbs, A Catalogue of the Printed Books and Manuscripts at St. Dunstan's, Regents Park, and Aldenham House, Herts, 1993; Michael Strachan, The Life and Adventures of Thomas Coryate, 1962.
