The Voyage of François Pyrard of Laval to the East Indies, the Maldives, the Moluccas and Brazil

A seventeenth-century description of the East Indies, published in English in three volumes (1887–1890) by the Hakluyt Society.

François Pyrard (Author), Albert Gray (Edited and translated by), H. C. P. Bell (Edited by)

9781108013475, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 2 November 2010

316 pages, 4 b/w illus.
21.6 x 1.8 x 14 cm, 0.4 kg

The publications of the Hakluyt Society (founded in 1846) made available edited early accounts of exploration. The first series, which ran from 1847 to 1899, consists of 100 books containing published or previously unpublished works by authors from Christopher Columbus to Sir Francis Drake, and covering voyages to the New World, to China and Japan, to Russia and to Africa and India. Shipwrecked on the Maldives in 1602–1607, Pyrard de Laval learnt the local language and studied the culture, flora and fauna of the islands. On his escape to Goa he continued his cultural investigations in Portuguese India, before returning to France by way of Saint Helena and Brazil in 1611. His book, which included practical advice for French traders travelling to Asia and a phrase book for visitors to the Maldives, was an immediate success. This three-volume translation of the 1619 edition appeared in 1887–1890.

Addenda et corrigenda
23. Return of the author
24. The island of Saint Helena
25. Departure from Saint Helena
26. Of Brazil
27. Departure from Brazil
Treatise of animals, trees, and fruits
Advice for the voyage to the East Indies
Dictionary of some words of the Maldive language
Appendix
General index.

Subject Areas: Asian history [HBJF]