Cornelis de Bruijn was a Dutch naturalist, antiquary and traveller who made two major tours of Asia in the early eighteenth century. In 1704-5, he travelled to Iran, where he remarked on the diversity of the cultures found in the country. He furnished the published account of his travels with large numbers of illustrations depicting people, cities and infrastructure. However, the work was particularly notable for the copious plates illustrating Achaemenid ruins at Persepolis and the tombs at Naqsh-e-Rostam. These were the best images of the sites available in Europe for over a century. While the ruins of Achaemenid Persia helped make the country accessible to European readers used to the accounts of classical authors, de Bruijn also acquired a copy of the Shahnameh and summarised the work for his audience. Likely acquired for the Royal Library before 1854.