III Editions
The following is a list of the various editions and translations of Busbecq’s works, with which we are acquainted.
In Latin.
DATE.
1581. Printed by Plantin, at Antwerp. Editio Princeps. It contains only the first Turkish Letter, under the title of Itinera Constantinopolitanum et Amasianum, and the De Acie contra Turcam Instruenda Consilium.
1582. Also printed by Plantin. At the end of the contents of the first edition the second Turkish Letter is added, under the title of Ejusdem Busbequii Secunda in Thraciam Profectio.
1589. Paris. Contains all four Turkish Letters and the De Acie.
1595. Frankfort. The same as the previous one.
1605. Hanau. The same as the last, with the addition of the Speech of Ibrahim to Ferdinand at Frankfort, and the text of the treaty of peace.
1620. Munich. Edited by Sadoler. The same as the last. It contains portraits of Busbecq and Solyman.
1629. Hanau. The same as the edition of 1605.
None of these editions contain any but the Turkish Letters.
1630. Louvain. Edited by Howaert. It contains the letters to Rodolph from France, 1-53 inclusive.
1632. Brussels. Also edited by Howaert. This edition contains the letters to Maximilian from France. Then follow the letters to Rodolph as in the last edition, and at the end come five more letters to Rodolph.
1632 (?). Evidently struck off from the same type as the last. There are, however, a few alterations, and there is no date on the title page.
1633. Leyden. The Elzevir edition. Two editions with slight variations appeared in the same year. They contain the four Turkish Letters, the De Acie, the Speech of Ibrahim, the Treaty, and the Letters to Rodolph, 1-53. At the end of the third Turkish Letter there are variations from all the preceding editions. See vol. i. page 305, note.
1660. Amsterdam. Elzevir. A reprint of the last.
1660. Oxford. The same contents as the Elzevir.
1660. London. The same contents as the Elzevir. There is also an Epitome de Moribus Turcarum, not written by Busbecq, which follows the Treaty.
1689. Leipsic. The same contents as the Elzevir.
1740. Bâle. The same contents and characteristic readings as the Elzevir, except in one passage.
In German.
1596. Frankfort. It contains the four Turkish Letters and the De Acie. The translator was Michael Schweicker, Master of the School at Frankfort.
In English.
1694. London. ‘The Four Epistles of Augerius Gislenius Busbequius, concerning his Embassy into Turkey, with his Advice how to Manage War against the Turks. Done into English.’ It contains a dedication to the Earl of Bolingbroke by Nahum Tate, from which it appears that the translator died before the book was published. The English is racy, but the book is full of mistakes and misprints.
1761. Glasgow. It contains only the Turkish Letters, and is said to be the third edition. It is a reprint of the last with some of the mistakes corrected.
In Bohemian.
1594. Prague. Translated by Leunclavius. It contains the First and Second Letters and the De Acie.
In French.
1649. Paris. A translation by Gaudon.
1718. Amsterdam.
1748. Paris. A translation in three volumes of the Turkish Letters and the Letters to Rodolph, by the Abbé Louis Étienne de Foy, Canon of Meaux.
1836. Paris. A translation of the Letters to Rodolph, 1-53, is contained in ‘Archives Curieuses de l’Histoire de France, Première Série,’ tome 10, by MM. Cimber and Danjou.
In Flemish.
1632. Dordrecht.
In Spanish.
Before 1650. Pampeluna. A translation by Stephanus Lopez de Reta, published by Charles de Lobaien. Viaje de Constantinopla, and also the De Acie.