FÜRER, Christopher.

Posthumous publication of Christopher Fürer’s (1541-1610) account of his travels in the Middle East, with a treasury of laudatory Latin verses, epitaphs and epigrams, including chronograms and distichons (acrostics). From a wealthy Nuremberg family, Fürer received a humanist education at Strasbourg before travelling, initially visiting Sardinia and Malta before spending a year in Venice. His tour took in Egypt, Palestine, Jerusalem and the Dead Sea, Jordan – where he and his companion were kidnapped by robbers but eventually fought their way to freedom – as well as Syria, Libya, Cyprus and Crete. Initially wintering in Cairo and restricted by the activities of Ethiopian and Arabic pirates on the Nile, Fürer describes purchasing porcelain, noting the method of producing it – mixing crushed shells and egg yolks into a clay and then burying it underground for more than fifty years – its wondrous plastic qualities and its ability to counteract poisons. Here, Fürer also encountered a German apostate who has converted to Islam, noting that he was a learned man who had studied at Wittenberg and Leipzig. In Cyprus, Fürer was struck by the ‘voluptuousness’ and decadence of the locals and the French nobility who still resided there, and had done since the Crusades, noting in particular their fondness for hunting and fowling. There is a short section describing the religion and music of the Orthodox Greeks. The folding plates, in very good, strong impressions, depict the Monastery of St. Catherine at Mount Sinai, Jerusalem, and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.