Two maps of the routes of Sir Thomas Herbert across Persia

Two maps of the travels of Sir Thomas Herbert (1606-82), who travelled to Persia with Sir Dodmore Cotton (d.1628), the first English ambassador to the court of King Abbas I of Persia, appointed by Charles I. The first map shows his route from Gomrow (Bandar Abbas in the Staits of Ormus) to Isphanan via Shiraz. The second shows the routes taken by them to Ashraff (Behshahr), Tehran, Tabris and Baghdad. The mission was not a success, as Cotton died of dysentery in 1628. Herbert returned to England via Sri Lanka, Mauritius (where he sketched a dodo) and St Helena. During the Civil War he sided with the Parliamentarians, and in 1647 he was appointed gentleman of the bedchamber to the captive Charles I, serving until the king's execution in 1649. The maps were published in Du Val's 'L'Atlas des Itinéraires et Voyages modernes'.