The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea: Travel and trade in the Indian Ocean by a Merchant of the First Century

Description:

First edition. Scarce. Translated from the Greek and annotated by Wilfred Harvey Schoff (1874-1932) an American antiquarian and classical scholar. The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea is an ancient Greek travelogue, believed to be written in the first century CE, that serves as a detailed guide to navigation and trade routes around the Red Sea, the Arabian Sea, and the Indian Ocean. It provides descriptions of coastal regions, ports, goods traded, and local cultures covering the Red Sea (modern-day Egypt, Sudan, Eritrea), the Arabian Peninsula, the Persian Gulf, the western coast of India, and parts of East Africa (modern Somalia, Kenya, and Tanzania). It lists commodities such as spices (like frankincense and myrrh), silk, ivory, gold, and exotic animals that were exchanged between the Roman Empire, Arabia, India, and Africa. It also describes peoples, their customs, political structures, and economic systems. Schoff concluded that the authorwas a "Greek in Egypt, a Roman subject".

The Periplus provides one of the earliest detailed accounts of trade and cultural interactions between the Mediterranean, Africa, Arabia, and South Asia during the Roman era. The introduction states ‘It is the first record of organized trading with the nations of the East, in vessels built and commanded by subjects of the Western World'. It is a valuable historical source for understanding ancient maritime commerce and cross-cultural exchanges.

Condition

8vo, orig. buckram, spine darkened; corners lightly bumped. Endpapers and edges of text block lighlty foxed; short closed tear to inner edge of half-title. Good. From the library of Brtish entomologist D.J. Greathead (1931-2006).