''Les observations de plusieurs singularitez et choses memorables trouvées en Grèce, Asie, Judée, Egypte, Arabie et autres pays estranges'' is a work of ethnographical, botanical and zoological exploration by

Pierre Belon Pierre Belon (1517–1564) was a French traveller, natural history, naturalist, writer and diplomat. Like many others of the Renaissance period, he studied and wrote on a range of topics including ichthyology, ornithology, botany, comparative anat ...

(1517–1564), a French

naturalist Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi, and plants, in their natural environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. A person who studies natural history is cal ...

from

Le Mans Le Mans (; ) is a Communes of France, city in Northwestern France on the Sarthe (river), Sarthe River where it meets the Huisne. Traditionally the capital of the Provinces of France, province of Maine (province), Maine, it is now the capital of ...

. Starting in 1546, Belon travelled through

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

Asia Minor Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

Arabia The Arabian Peninsula (, , or , , ) or Arabia, is a peninsula in West Asia, situated north-east of Africa on the Arabian plate. At , comparable in size to India, the Arabian Peninsula is the largest peninsula in the world. Geographically, the ...

and

Palestine Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...

, returning to France in 1549. His ''Observations'', with illustrations, were first published in 1553. A second edition appeared in 1554, a third in 1555. The work was translated into Latin by

Charles de l'Écluse Charles de l'Écluse, L'Escluse, or Carolus Clusius (19 February 1526 – 4 April 1609), seigneur de Watènes, was an Artois doctor and pioneering botanist, perhaps the most influential of all 16th-century scientific horticulturists. Life Clu ...

(Carolus Clusius) and published in 1589 under the title ''Petri Bellonii Cenomani plurimorum singularium et memorabilium rerum ... observationes''. The Latin text was reprinted as an appendix to Clusius's ''

Exoticorum libri decem ''Exoticorum libri decem'' ("Ten books of exotic life forms") is an illustrated zoological and botanical compendium in Latin, published at Leiden in 1605 by Charles de l'Écluse. On the title page the author's name appears in its well-known L ...

'' (1605).

Editions

1553 edition
at Gallica (Bibliothèque Nationale de France)
1588 edition
at Google Books * ''Voyage au Levant (1553). Les Observations de Pierre Belon du Mans'', ed. Alexandra Merle, Paris: Chandeigne, 2001. * ''Travels in the Levant: The Observations of Pierre Belon of Le Mans on Many Singularities and Memorable Things Found in Greece, Turkey, Judaea, Egypt, Arabia and Other Foreign Countries (1553)'', ed. Alexandra Merle, tr. James Hogarth, Kilkerran: Hardinge Simpole, 2002.

References

1553 books French travel books Botany books Ethnographic literature Zoology books {{Zoology-book-stub