PREFACE BY DR. V. BALL
VOL. II
In the
course of the preparation of a work of so diversified and complex a
character as this, it is almost certain to be the case that, even up to
the last moment before publication, matter bearing upon the subject
comes to hand. The present occasion, so far from forming an exception
to the rule, exemplifies it in a very remarkable degree. The subjects
upon which additional information has been acquired during the progress
of the printing of these volumes are many ; but there are some in
particular which deserve special notice, to which it may therefore be
well to call attention here.
Through the kindness of Prof. Joret I have received a pamphlet, written by himself, entitled Le Voyageur Tavernier (1670-89), in
which he has pursued his investigations as to the events of the last
twenty years of Tavernier's life. As some of these confirm while others
modify the conclusions set forth in the Introduction to vol. i, it is
desirable to notice them briefly.
Prof. Joret describes his examination of the original manuscripts of Tavernier's Memoirs, which
are in the possession of M. Schefer at his Château of St. Alban near
Chambéry. Without entering into details, it may be said that they
completely confirm the view expressed in the Introduction, that the
material-made use of by Chappuzeau was largely documentary ; that it
could have been communicated orally by dictation, the internal
evidence, as it appeared to me, sufficiently disproved.
Chappuzeau's
work consisted in giving a literary style, such as it was, to
Tavernier's simple and rough notes ; but in this work Tavernier himself
very possibly assisted. These MS. Memoirs contain some details not included in the Travels, such
as personal expenses and other minor day-to-day notes. The death of M.
Ardilière, a subject of some confusion (see vol. i, 125 n.)> is
fixed by the original record as having taken place on the 12th December
1652. And Tavernier's arrival at
