Distant Lands and Diverse Cultures

Glenn J. Ames is professor of history at the University of Toledo. He received his PhD from the University of Minnesota. His books include Colbert, Mercantilism, and the French Quest for Asian Trade (1996) and Renascent Empire?: The House of Braganza and the Quest for Stability in Portuguese Monsoon Asia, ca. 1640-1683 (2000).Ronald S. Love is associate professor of history at the State University of West Georgia. He is the author of Blood and Religion: The Conscience of Henri IV, 1553-1593 (2001).

• Introduction Thevenot the Tourist: A Frenchman Abroad in the Ottoman Empire by Glenn Sundeen A Veritable Bedouin: The Chevalier d'Arvieux in the Camp of the Emir Turabey by Deirdre Pettet Secrets of the Seraglio: Harem Politics and the Rhetoric of Imperialism in the Travels of Sir Jean Chardin by S. Amanda Eurich The French and Poncet's Ethiopia, 1698-1703 by Ronald S. Love and Theodore Natsoulas The Travails of Madagascar: Rennefort's Relation du premier voyage de la Compagnie des Indies Orientales by Carl J. Sobocinski Wonders of Nature, Diversity of Events: The Voyage of Francois Pyrard de Laval by Diane S. Margolf Tavernier's Travels in India by Anne York Mughal India During the Age of the Scientific Revolution: Francois Bernier's Travels and His Lessons for Absolutist Europe by Glenn J. Ames A Young Physician on the Move: Dellon's Relation s'un voyage des Indes Orientales and his Relation de l'Inquisition de Goa by Glenn J. Ames Simon de La Loubere: French Views of Siam in the 1680s by Ronald S. Love In Search of a Passage to China: A French Jesuit's Perceptions of Siberia in the 1680s by Ronald S. Love The Search for Souls in China: Le Comte's Nouveaux Memories by Linda and Marsha Frey Index

"[I]s a worthwhile set of critical essays based around twelve different French travel accounts concerned with Asia (from the Ottoman Empire to China) and produced during the seventeenth century. . . . In many ways the quality of reflection on the Asian world, as embodied in the genre of travel writing, is something the French did managed to contribute to, thereby sowing the seeds for the foundation-rocking relativism of the eighteenth century that acceptance of high cultures in Asia produced. The present book constitutes a useful exploration of this theme." - Itinerario