The English edition was probably translated from Gadebusch’s German edition of 1762. The first edition was published in Swedish in 1757 as Iter Palaestinum, edited by Linnaeus.
Hasselquist, doctor of medicine, member of the Royal Societies of Uppsala and Stockholm, was one of the ‘apostles’, or students, of Linnaeus who travelled abroad to investigate the plants of unexplored regions, in this case Palestine, Syria, Cyprus, Rhodes and Chios. Linnaeus described Hasselquist’s work as being full of fresh, genuine and precise observations.
The letter from Cyprus is to be found in part I, pp. 169-174. Hasselquist actually visited the island in May 1751, in an attempt to find a passage to Europe. He had not intended to carry out botanical investigations on the island. It was the wrong season: the heat was so intense that there was not much flora to be observed. Nevertheless he visited Stavrovouni and Famagusta, giving many details of the rock formations as well as the plants he observed. He also gave very accurate and observant remarks on buildings. Of particular historical significance is his visit to the half-ruined Famagusta, where he found 300 inhabitants, mostly Turks. Hasselquist died in Smyrna in 1752.
Voyages And Travels In the Levant; In the Years 1749, 50, 51, 52. Containing Observations in Natural History, Physick, Agriculture, and Commerce: Particularly On the Holy Land, and the Natural History of the Scriptures. Written originally in the Swedish Language, By the late Frederick Hasselquist, M. D. Fellow of the Royal Societies of Upsal and Stockholm. Published, by Order of her present Majesty the Queen of Sweden, By Charles Linnæus, Physician to the King of Sweden, Professor of Botany at Upsal, and Member of all the Learned Societies in Europe. London, Printed for L. Davis and C. Reymers, opposite Gray’s-Inn-Gate, Holborn, Printers to the Royal Society. MDCCLXVI.