Sheikh Ibn Battuta (1304-77) left his native Tangier on a pilgrimage to Mecca, and over the next 27 years, managed to visit the lands of every Muslim ruler of his time. Lee (Arabic, U. of Cambridge) selected from abridged manuscript copies of his Tijfat al-nuzzar fi ghara-ib al-amsar wa-'aja'ib al-asfar in the Public Library of Cambridge, focusing on the history, geography, botany, antiquities, and other matters he thought of interest to his contemporary readers. The Oriental Translation Committee, in London, published the 1829 edition, which is reproduced with Lee's notes. There is no index. Annotation 2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
