The Travels of Ibn Battuta: in the Near East, Asia and Africa, 1325-1354

I experienced a bit of disappointment when I compared this volume, which covers Ibn Batuta's travels in 243 pages, to the Arabic version I have "Rihla Ibn Batuta" Dar Al Beirut (1997) which describes his travels from page 14 to page 701. A lot of interesting material has been excised. It is not the fault of the translator inasmuch as he translated from an abridged Arabic manuscript. This is made clear from the back cover of the Dover publication of Rev. Lee's translation.Nonetheless, this book is an interesting historical document in itself. Interspersed throughout the translation, Rev. Lee provides valuable notes and, in his preface, provides an insightful historiography. The translation includes, in numerous footnotes, various terms and places in Arabic. The orthography is quite legible. However, some of the places are arcane and there is no attempt to decipher them. This is a minor quibble as such an exercise would require the translator to also be a historical geographer.I would ignore the review of this book that awarded this work only one star. It would appear that that reviewer is merely revealing more of his own limitations than those of the Rev. Lee.Finally, the Dover edition is aesthetically pleasing and printed on high quality paper. I found it to be good value for money. Owing to its incompleteness, however, I can only give it a qualified recommendation.

Not only is this book historically VERY IMPORTANT, it's also very readable in this edition.

Dear reader --I highly recommend that you stay away from this translation.Please note the back cover of this volume.It states that Rev. Lee's translation was printed in 1829 by the "Oriental Translation Committee, London, 1829" . . .(In fact, always read the back cover of Dover publications.)Of course, if you're interested in the history of the translations of Ibn Battuta's "Rihlah" (Travels) . . . this book might have some cursory value . . .However, it is now quite clear to me that it was accomplished by a rather impatient -- and even potentially, biased -- translator of questionable abilities . . .It is worth noting, here, that the translator did not even have proper means for the giant task he chose for himself . . . In fact, the Rev. Lee himself should probably be subjected to some scholarly study to understand why and with what tools of scholarship he took on the massive tasks . . .For example, Wright's monumental work on "Arabic Grammar" (which is a translation of a German book) was not even printed until some decades (possibly several decades) after Rev. Lee's translation.Now, a bit about how I've arrived at this conclusion.I bought this book ("Ibn Battuta -- Translated and Edited by Rev. Samuel Lee") on Amazon back in June of 2014. In fact, on June 4, 2014.I read some of the initial pages, and then due to a traumatic accident, it sat on my "current readings" bookshelf, for some years -- until recently, when I referred back to it in comparison to another translation . . .My interest in Ibn Battuta had peaked after speaking to a North African friend who praised it as a really good book to read about the history and socio-economic conditions of an amazingly large part of the world (excluding of course the Americas) . . . I had known about Ibn Battuta but had not ventured because i couldn't find a good translation . . . my relation with university libraries having been severed since I left Berkeley.Recently, on a trip to Tehran to visit family, I was fortunate enough to visit the bookshops across University of Tehran and while there, I ran into a beautifully bound and well-made two-volume translation of Ibn Battuta . . . The translation is the work of Tehran University professor Dr. Muhammad Ali Muvahhed . . . who translated the work from the scholarly Arabic edition. . . first in 1958 and then revised it in 1985 . . . The 2-volume Persian printing I purchased was published in 2016.The current scholarly Arabic edition is the one that French scholars put together based on 5 existing scripted editions preserved in French National Museum in Paris. Muvahhed notes that he has used a 1987 Lebanese reissue (with certain corrections) of the Paris edition.Muvahhed also speaks of the "The Travels of Ibn Battuta, AD 1325–1354: Volumes I - V (Hakluyt Society, Second Series)" -- translation by H.A.R. Gibb in the middle of last century -- which now is available on Amazon, published by Routledge; 1 edition (May 15, 2017), at exorbitant prices.As an aside, I've noticed that Routledge has cornered this market of scholarly translations . . . and it might be time and very profitable to produce competing translations for those who are interested . . . of classical texts by Muslim scholars.This Persian translation (printed in 2016) comes in two volumes, a total of some 1100 pages, some 200 pages of notes, some 100 pages of index material, and dozens of pages giving table of contents.I've correlated important sections and very insightful passages from the Persian translation with Rev. Lee's 1829's translation that Dover has published in the volume under review.Rev. Lee's translation of Ibn Battuta (published by Dover, and being reviewed here) misses multitudes of unbelievably important and critical passages almost everywhere in the book, in all chapters, and through the full duration of travels . . .A true disservice to the curious reader who will never learn about the many valuable details in the unabridged versions.The missing material is too numerous to list as full detailed examples. . . . This re-issue of the 1829 Rev. Lee translation is simply a disservice to the reading public. . . . I will keep it on my shelf as a reminder of the colossal failures of early 19th century "orientalists" . . .

As a writer with a passion for seafarers and wanderers, this is a perfect resource and a speedy getaway read for these trying days of quiet solitude. Battuta is a luxury version of every explorers dream. Love it already and I’m still in the preface!!

Very good basic travelog. This 14th century traveler was 20 years away from his home in Tangier. He saw Lhasa, Colombo and Sudan. What a wealth of knowledge.

Wild and crazy wanderings. A good tour of the Moslem world ca. 1320.

I know this edition may be outdated, but this book was truly fascinating. What I found very interesting is that it was told from a completely non-European, pre-colonial perspective, yet the similarities between his points of view and observations to those of European societies are striking.

Obstensibly, Ibn Battuta left Tangier to undertake his pilgrimage in 1325 to Mecca. After travelling half of the known world he finally returned to his home in 1354. Although there are somewhat abbreviated descriptions of cities, peoples and nations that he visited, there are also vividly detailed descriptions of quite diverse cultures and customs. His world view struck me as benign and pragmatic in how he absorbed and then recounted different episodes of his odyssey. This book is indeed "a rare and important work" and gives insight into the medieval world of the Middle East. However, of the 243 pages in this particular edition (Dover Publications), translated by Reverend Samuel Lee, the travelogue is about half; the remaining pages are taken up with long-winded notes written by the translator. I found the way the book was set out as clumsy and made it awkward to keep focus on the actual journey. The book is too academic for my liking and would have preferred an uncluttered edition.

There is certainly something to interest the reader in each chapter, and for the researcher. It's worth a read for the dedicated, but it's quite laborious.

Well worth reading for those who enjoy history. I found Ibn Battuta's wrting full of interesting facts, however some of the editors comments and footnotes rather long winded and sometimes got off the point. From other books I believe some of the places reported by Ibn Battuta were based on hearsay as he didn't visit them ( this also applies to the writings of Marco Polo). This was not mentioned in this volume. All the same well worth reading.

Battuta was one of the worlds greatest travelers. The descriptions of the peoples and places met and visited are superb.This 1829 translation can be difficult in parts (especially the copious notes) but well worth the effort and very rewarding.