Coryate, Thomas

Coryate or Coryat, Thomas (both: kôr`ēət), 1577?–1617, English traveler. Grotesque in appearance, he became part of the household of Henry, the oldest son of James I, where he was a sort of unofficial court jester. In 1608 he went on a journey that covered much of Europe and resulted in the publication of his Crudities (1611), a strange mixture of travel observations and poetry. In 1612 he set out again, voyaged in Asia Minor and Egypt, then back to Palestine and E to Persia and India, where he died in 1617. His letters from India were published in 1616 and 1618; some are reprinted in Early Travels in India (ed. by Sir William Foster, 1921).

Bibliography

See biography by M. Strachan (1962).