L'ambassade de la compagnie des provinces unies vers l'empereur de la Chine
First French edition of Nieuhof's journey to China, illustrated with 109 lovely engravings and 34 double-page plates, preserved in its contemporary vellum.
Folio (9) ff., 290 pp. (+ ff. 116 and 117 between pp. 116 and 117), (1) f., 134 pp., (1) f. and 34 double-page plates.
Rigid vellum, double gilt fillet border on covers, corner fleurons, large gilt motif in the center, spine with raised bands decorated with gilt fillets and fleurons, citron morocco title label, gilt edges.
386 x 242 mm.
Nieuhoff, Jan. The Embassy of the Dutch East India Company to the Emperor of China, or Great Khan of Tartary, carried out by Messrs. Pierre de Goyer & Jacob de Keyser.
Leiden, Jacob de Meurs, 1665.
First French edition of the voyage of Pierre de Goyer and Jacob de Keyser, sent to China by the Council of the East Indies.
It was published the same year and by the same publisher as the Dutch edition.
Chadenat, I, 140; Lust, 534; Cordier, Sinica, 2345-2346; Landwehr, 540; Löwendahl 127; Cox I, p. 325.
In 1655, the Governor-General appointed Nieuhoff as steward of the embassy sent to China, headed by Goyer and de Keyser. The ambassadors landed at Canton on July 29, 1655, and stayed there until March 17, 1656. They passed through Nanking and had to overcome the hostility of the Jesuits to be admitted on October 1st, 1656, before the Emperor of China. Returning to Canton, Nieuhoff embarked for Europe on March 31, 1657.
Dedicated to Colbert and adorned with a large portrait of the minister, the work is renowned and sought after for its rich iconography of China as it was known at the time.
In addition to an engraved frontispiece, a portrait of Colbert, and a large folding map of China, 114 beautiful engravings, 34 of them double-page, show landscapes, port and city views, costumes, fauna, and flora of the regions visited by the author.
The printing, very bold, is superb.
A very handsome, large-margined copy preserved in its contemporary vellum binding.
Provenance: Bibliothèque Caumartin, with ex-libris.
First edition in French, published the same year as the First Edition, in Dutch.
The work was translated by Jean Le Carpentier; he rewrote much of Nieuhof's text and provided most of the text for Part II, Description générale de l'Empire de la Chine.
The work comprises an account of the embassy made by the Dutch East India Company to the Chinese court with many incidental remarks on the manners and customs of the Chinese.
The 114 fine plates and illustrations show costume, natural history and numerous town views in China, Tibet and Tartary.
A beautiful copy kept in its contemporary vellum.
