AN ITINERARY WRITTEN BY FYNES MORYSON Gent.

Publisher: John Beale, London

Publication Date: 1617

Binding: Hardcover

Description: AN ITINERARY WRITTEN BY FYNES MORYSON Gent.CONTAINING HIS TEN YEERES TRAVELL THROUGH THE TWELVE DOMINIONS OF GERMANY, BOHMERLAND, SWEITZERLAND, NETHERLAND, DENMARKE, POLAND, ITALY, TURKY, FRANCE, ENGLAND, SCOTLAND, AND IRELAND. Divided into III parts.
John Beale, London, 1617. First edition. Folio. 3 parts bound in one volume. pp I] 295, II] 301, III] 292. In attracilater leather binding with five raised bands to spine and title 'Moryson's Itinerary' in gilt. Illustrated with 8 original woodcut engravings of Venice, Naples, Rome, Genoa, Paris, Constantinople, Jerusalem. The text block is clean and bright, with no marks and in remarkable condition for its age. A very good copy. 
A unique and influential publication, Moryson's itinerary is part Elizabethan travelogue, part war journal, and an important written source for historians of the period. The son of a Lincolnshire MP, Moryson attended Cambridge University, taking his Masters in 1587 but instead of pursuing his intended career in law, he spent from 1591-97 travelling in Continental Europe and the Near East. Parts I and III of the itinerary are the result of these travels, providing a vivid and detailed account of the places and people he visited. Moryson's powers of observation and eye for detail resulted in a fascinating work of early travel writing. 

Part II is concerned solely with Ireland. On return from his travels and in need of a position, Moryson visited his brother in Dundalk where he was governor and whilst there, when the Lord Deputy, Mountjoy's secretary was killed in a skirmish, Moryson was offered the position. For the next three years, he remained Mountjoy's secretary during the final years of the Nine Years' War; witnessing firsthand the brutal campaigns to defeat the Irish confederation led by Hugh O'Neill, 2nd Earl of Tyrone. With Spanish intervention, this had become a significant theatre in the European wars of Religion and the most serious challenge the Crown had faced in Ireland since the 12th century. Mountjoy was to triumph where a succession of his predecessors had failed, including the ill-fated Earl of Essex. But the cost of victory was very high, almost bankrupting Elizabeth's treasury and leading to riots in the shires over frequent conscription. For the Gaelic Irish, defeat was cataclysmic, leading to the Plantation of Ulster with all the consequences that followed. Moryson's journal is one of the few contemporary accounts to survive of this crucial period of Irish and English history. He was at Mountjoy's side throughout this period and his graphic, albeit inevitably partial, account gives us a unique insight into the organisation of the Tudor administration in Ireland as well as the military campaigns. Note: this is a heavy book and may incur additional shipping charges outside of the UK. 

Condition: Very good+