The Editor Of This Collection Gives No
Account Of Himself, Or Of The Sources From Whence He Has Derived His
Different Articles; And Only Says, That The Journal Of Contarini Was
Translated Into French, That It Might Be Published Along With The Other
Contents Of His Volume.
From the _Bibliotheque Universelle des Voyages_,
by G. Boucher de la Richarderie, a new work of great research, published
at Paris in 1808, we learn that the journal of Contarini was published in
Italian at Venice, in a duodecimo volume, in 1543.
So far as is known to
us, it now appears for the first time in an English translation. This
article might have been more aptly placed towards the close of _first_
part of the present collection, but escaped notice in proper time and it
appears of too much importance, both in itself, and as an early document,
to be omitted from punctilious attention to rigid systematic arrangement.
PREFACE OF THE AUTHOR.
"The illustrious republic of Venice, having done me the honour to appoint
me ambassador to Uzun-Hassan, king of Persia, I accepted the employment
with much pleasure, both that I might do acceptable service to my own
country and for the general good of Christendom. I neither considered the
difficulties nor the dangers of the journey, but placed my trust solely
on the assistance of God; preferring the interests of my country, and of
the Christian world, to my own ease and safety. On purpose to render my
discoveries useful to the public, I have carefully and briefly recorded
every circumstance deserving of attention, that occurred during my long
and laborious journey; as relative to the provinces, cities, and places
through which I travelled, and the manners and customs of the different
nations among whom I sojourned.
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