Morgenländische Reyse=Beschreibung. Worinnen zugleich die gelegenheit und heutiger Zustand etlicher fürnehmen Indianischen Länder, Provincien, Städte und insulen, sampt derer Einwohner Leben, Sitten, Glauben und Handthierung: wie auch die Beschaffenheit der Seefahrt über das Oceanische Meer. Heraus gegeben durch Adam Olearius. Mit desselben unterschiedlichen Notis oder Anmerckungen, wie auch mit vielen Kupffer Platen gezieret.

Mandelslo was a page in the service of Duke Frederick III of Holstein-Gottorp (1597-1659). In 1633, together with Adam Olearius, a German mathematician and geographer, Mendelslo was sent on a diplomatic mission to establish trade connections with Russia and Persia. The Duke wished to establish a trade connection between Gottorp and Persia to import silk and spices from there via Astrakhan (Russia) and thus enter competition with the Netherlands and England, which at that time had a large import of goods from India and Persia. (Petersen 1943: 135)

After lengthy negotiations in Moscow, the embassy was not allowed to continue unless the treaty concluded were signed by the Duke. Thus, after returning to Gottorp, the embassy set out again in 1636. In 1637, they reached Isfahan. The Duke did not gain much material benefit from the expedition, but, with Mendelslo and Olearius, a wealth of information about the countries visited and especially about Persia emerged from this journey. After returning home, the secretary of the trip, Adam Olearius, became a valued librarian at and manager of the distinguished collections at Gottorp – the collections at Gottorp were of international renown: Foreign scholars studied at Gottorp, and King Frederick III was inspired to have his own cabinet of curiosities (kunstkammer) after a visit to the duke. (Petersen 1943: 135; Christensen 2024)

When the embassy returned home, the young Mandelslo remained in Isfahan and in the following years set out on a long and adventurous journey, from which he did not return until 1640. On this journey he kept a diary, which was published by Olearius, first in a brief edition and later in an more detailed (and expanded) edition in 1658, which is the present edition. He wrote it in the High German of the time but spelled the words as they sounded to him. (Petersen 1943: 136)

According to Petersen (1943): 

"[...] it is known from other sources that Mandelslo was received at the English court and stayed there for a while. He then returned to Gottorp in May 1640 and in 1641 undertook a journey to Sweden in the Duke's service. Later he travelled to the Netherlands, England and France and in 1643 went into French service as a ritmester under Josias Rantzau. But the year after he died of smallpox, only 28 years old." ([own translation], 1943: 138)

As Petersen (1943) writes in a review of the edition of Margrete Refslund-Klemann on Mendelslo’s manuscripts which she found in the Berlin State Library (J. A. Mandelslo, Journal und Observation peiner anderen Reyse nach Musco und von dannen fernner nach dem Königreich Persia, 1942), the following is also applicable for the present book: “The book is of great importance first and foremost as a source for information about conditions in India in the 17th century, but also through its depiction of the difficulties of a sea voyage in those times, and it is absolutely essential for anyone interested in or concerned with colonial history or historical geography in general.” ([own translation], Petersen 1943: 138)

Sources and further reading:

Christensen, Steen Ove. (2024). Frederik 3. - hertug i Dansk Biografisk Leksikon på lex.dk. Accessed 24 August 2026 fra https://biografiskleksikon.lex.dk/Frederik_3._-_hertug

Petersen, S. (1943). Johan Albrecht von Mandelslo: Journal und Observation 1637-1640. Herausgegeben von Margrete Reefslund - Klemann. 233 S. (16X22 cm). Andr. Fred. Høsl & Søn. København 1942. Geografisk Tidsskrift, 46. Hentet fra https://tidsskrift.dk/geografisktidsskrift/article/view/48361

Birkelund, 55. - Thesaurus, 582. - Bibl. Dan. II,411-14.