History
The book is an account of a journey undertaken, much of it on foot, in 1608 through France, Italy, Germany, and other European countries by Thomas Coryat of Odcombe. Among other things, it introduced the use of the fork to England and, in its support of continental travel, helped to popularize the idea of the Grand Tour that rose in popularity later in the century. It represents a contemporary account of the music of Giovanni Gabrieli performed in the Scuola di San Rocco. It was likely the earliest English rendering of the legend of William Tell. It was only twice reprinted before modern facsimiles (1776 & 1905, those including the later trip to Persia & India, where Coryat died), and the first edition is quite rare today.
Coryat (sometimes also spelled "Coryate" or "Coriat") conceived of the 1,975-mile (3,175 km) voyage to Venice and back in order to write the subsequent travelogue dedicated to Henry, Prince of Wales, at whose court he was regarded as somewhat of a buffoon and jester, rather than the wit and intellectual he considered himself. The extent to which Coryat invited such ridicule in pursuit of patronage and court favor is unclear. The title, however, implies the use of crudity related to "imperfectly digested" or "indigestible" (Oxford English Dictionary).
Read more about this topic: Coryat's Crudities
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