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China in Print: Western works on China

1478 - 1936

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We specialise in material relating to voyages, especially in the Pacific, Australia & Asia,natural history, and literature, and deal in rare books, manuscripts, paintings and prints.

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NOTE ON REFERENCES.Some standard references often cited in this list are abbreviated as follows:Cordier: Bibliotheca Sinica: dictionnaire bibliographique des ouvrages relatifs a l’empire chinoisLach: Asia in the Making of Europe Lust: Western Books on ChinaLowendahl: China Illustrata Nova

CHINA IN PRINT

1 ASHWORTH, Edward (English architect, 1814-1896). SUITE OF ORIGINAL DEPICTIONS OF HONG KONG AND MACAU.

14 watercolours and drawings. Southern China, 1844 to 1845.Superb and important collection of original depictions of Hong Kong and Macau. A separate catalogue is available on request. P.O.A.

2 BENNETT, George. WANDERINGS IN NEW SOUTH WALES, BATAVIA, PEDIR COAST, SINGAPORE, AND CHINA…

Two volumes, octavo, 19th-century red half calf. London, 1834.Travel classic by ‘the greatest of the physician naturalists of Australia’. This copy belonged to a close friend of Lord Byron. Bennett’s account of his wanderings includes descriptions of various Asian ports visited during the voyages. Abbey, 527; Cordier, Bibliotheca Sinica, 2112. HK$22,500

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3 BLAEU. MARTINI, Martino. NOVUS ATLAS SINENSIS.Large folio, with 17 engraved double-page maps in contemporary hand-colouring; original Dutch vellum. Amsterdam, 1655.First edition of the greatest early atlas of the Chinese empire and ‘extremely valuable in presenting Europe with an accurate geographic picture of the Middle Kingdom… These were the most accurate maps available during the century, and together with Martini’s provincial descriptions, the atlas provided more geographical information about China than became available during the following two centuries…’ (Lowendahl).Cordier, 182; Koeman, II, 502; Lowendahl, 116; Lust, 160. HK$380,000

CHINA IN PRINT

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4 BOUVET, Joachim. PORTRAIT HISTORIQUE DE L’EMPEREUR DE LA CHINE, PRESENTE AU ROY.

Duodecimo, original vellum binding. Paris, 1697.Rare description of the Kangxi Emperor and the Qing court written for Louis XIV of France, who had sent Bouvet and his Jesuit colleagues to China. Cordier, 634; Lowendahl, 218; Lust, 467. HK$28,200

5 CONSTANT, Samuel Victor. CALLS, SOUNDS & MERCHANDISE OF THE PEKING STREET PEDDLERS.

Quarto, 61 coloured lithographs and 16 photographs; original silk-covered boards. Beijing, The Camel Bell, 1936.First edition of this delightful study of Beijing street peddlers; a significant resource for the study of a disappeared way of life. HK$52,200

CHINA IN PRINT

6 CONFUCIUS. CONFUCIUS SINARUM PHILOSOPHUS, SIVE SCIENTIA LATINE EXPOSITA.

Small folio, portrait of Confucius and map of China; fine copy in 18th-century tree calf. Paris, 1686-1687.The first European printing of the works of Confucius.’The first systematic and comprehensive presentation of Confucianism’ (Lundbaek), it includes the first ever translation into Latin of The Analects, the fundamental Confucian text and the very basis of Chinese scholarship.Lowendahl, 182; Lust, 724. HK$140,000

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7 D’APRES DE MANNEVILLETTE, J.-B. INSTRUCTIONS SUR LA NAVIGATION DES INDES ORIENTALES.

Octavo, contemporary crimson morocco, royal arms of Louis Philippe in gilt. Paris, Imprimerie Royale, 1819.A superb copy in a royal binding for the Duc d’Orléans, the future King Louis-Philippe. This is the final edition of d’Après de Mannevillette’s Instructions to explain and supplement his maps of the eastern oceans, collectively published as the Neptune Oriental. HK$115,000

CHINA IN PRINT

8 D’APRES DE MANNEVILLETTE, J.-B. NEPTUNE ORIENTAL…

Large folio atlas with 69 maps; green boards. Paris, Compagnie des Indes & Dépôt Génerale de la Marine, 1775 - circa 1810.Magnificent French marine atlas of the eastern oceans, updated to 1810 using French admiralty charts to provide a full working atlas for officers navigating towards the east, with routes to India, China and South-East Asia.Phillips, 3165-3168; Shirley, pp 1067-1068. HK$210,000

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9 DIONYSIOS, Periegetes. DE SITU ORBIS HABITABILIS…

Small quarto, 36 leaves; calf antique. Venice, 1478.One of the earliest printings (first 1477) of this influential 2nd-century account of the known world, seas, countries, and islands, with sections on both Asia and India. “Dionysius’ references to Thina hark back to… the earliest surviving accounts of China in European literature” (Lowendahl). Lowendahl, 1 (1477 edition). HK$159,500

CHINA IN PRINT

10 DU HALDE, P. Jean-Baptiste. A DESCRIPTION OF THE EMPIRE OF CHINA AND CHINESE-TARTARY…

Two volumes, large folio, 51 maps and 13 plates; original blind stamped calf, spines restored. London, 1738-1741.First English folio edition of du Halde’s classic work on China, carefully translated with a new suite of finely engraved maps improving on those of the French original.British Map Engravers, p.96; Lowendahl, 409; Lust, 15. HK$239,300

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11 FARIA Y SOUSA, Manuel de. ASIA PORTUGUESA.

Three volumes, quarto, 19 folding plates; 18th-century speckled calf, spines gilt. Lisboa, 1666-1675.Rare and influential history of the Portuguese empire in Asia, with rich and vibrant descriptions of ritual and customs in India, China, and Southeast Asia.Cordier, 2309; Lowendahl, 1570; Palau, 86692. HK$166,200

12 FORTUNE, R. JOURNEY TO THE TEA COUNTRIES OF CHINA.

Octavo, original decorative cloth. London, 1852.First edition: a very attractive copy of this marvellous account of the botanist Robert Fortune’s trip to China in 1847. HK$18,600

13 FORTUNE, R. YEDO AND PEKING…

Octavo, contemporary half blue calf. London, 1863.Fortune’s last work describing his travels to China and Japan on behalf of the U.S. government to collect tea shrubs and other plants. HK$10,300

CHINA IN PRINT

14 GILBERT, Thomas. VOYAGE FROM N.S.W. TO CANTON…

Quarto, 4 plates; full speckled tan calf. London, 1789.First edition: Gilbert describes the first trading voyage out of Port Jackson in 1788, to Canton to get tea. En route he discovered the Gilbert and Marshall islands, naming them for himself and his fellow captain.Ferguson, 38; Hill, 702; Wantrup, 18. HK$129,500

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15 GONZALEZ de MENDOZA, Juan. HISTORIA DE LAS COSAS MAS NOTABLES … DEL GRAN REYNO DELA CHINA…

Small octavo; 19th-century quarter vellum. Rome, 1585.First edition of the most important early history of China: ‘the most influential and detailed work on China prepared in the sixteenth century… Before the end of the century Mendoza’s compendium had been translated into most European languages and had become one of the best-sellers of its day. Its popularity may be accounted for in part by the great and unsatisfied demand which existed everywhere in Europe for a comprehensive and authoritative survey of China in the vernacular languages… In fact, the authority of Mendoza’s book was so great that it became the point of departure and the basis of comparison for all subsequent European works on China written before the eighteenth century…’ (Lach). Cordier, 8; Lach I, pp. 743-4; Lowendahl, 13; Streit, IV, 1972. HK$239,500

CHINA IN PRINT

16 GONZALEZ de MENDOZA, Juan. THE HISTORIE OF THE GREAT AND MIGHTIE KINGDOME OF CHINA…

Octavo, period style speckled, calf box. London, J. Wolfe, 1588.Rare and desirable: the first book on China printed in England, and the first work in English devoted exclusively to China; from the famous library of Charles Boxer.Lowendahl notes the book’s impact on the European imagination of China: ‘The reading public was small, and it is probably no exaggeration to say that Mendoza’s book had been read by the majority of well-educated Europeans by the end at the beginning of the seventeenth century. Its influence was naturally enormous.’ The first major survey of China, 33 editions have been identified of the book in the thirty years following its first publication: this English edition was by far the most significant. It happens to be an exceptionally rare book today.Cordier, 13; Lach I, pp. 743-4; Lowendahl, 13 (Rome), 23 (Paris); Sabin, 27783 (“so rare that we have never seen it”); Streit, IV, 2000. HK$890,000

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17 GUIGNES, Chrétien-Louis-Joseph de. DICTIONNAIRE CHINOIS, FRANÇAIS ET LATIN…

Large thick folio, woodblock printed Chinese characters; contemporary half morocco. Paris, Imprimerie Impériale, 1813.A magnificent combination of scholarship and typographic design: the first trilingual Chinese-Latin-French dictionary, commissioned at Napoleon’s personal request in 1809 and a most impressive publication, combining woodblock printed Chinese characters alongside French and Latin letterpress translations. A most important contribution to Western scholarship on China, the dictionary is unprecedented in both scope and lavish production, and reflects the emerging curiosity with Chinese language and culture amongst European scholars of the early nineteenth century.Cordier, 1589; Lowendahl, 763; Lust, 1037. HK$149,500

CHINA IN PRINT

18 ISIDORE OF SEVILLE, Saint. ETYMOLOGIAE.

Folio, gothic letter; full-page & 6 smaller woodcuts; contemporary Italian blind stamped calf over wooden boards. Venice, 1483.A splendid copy, in its original 15th-century Venetian blind-stamped binding, of Isidore of Seville’s great medieval Encyclopedia, with its illustrations including the extraordinary world map, the very first world map to have appeared in a printed book. Known as a “T-O” type from its shape, the map (f 68v) represents a medieval view of a spherical world and shows all that was known or could be imagined of the world. Isidore’s book also contains a fine woodcut of the tree of knowledge (f 48v) to illustrate his approach to the organisation and visualisation of data. As the earliest attempt to organise knowledge in a way that we might recognise today, its author has been anointed by the Vatican as the patron saint of the Internet (!)BMC, V, 379; Shirley, ‘Mapping of the World’, 1 (1472). HK$520,000

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19 KIRCHER, Athanasius. LA CHINE. ILLUSTREE DE PLUSIEURS MONUMENTS TANT SACRES QUE PROFANES…

Large quarto, engraved maps and plates; later vellum. Amsterdam, 1670.First French edition of an influential encyclopaedia of the Chinese empire, much expanded from the earlier Latin edition of 1667 to include a Chinese-French dictionary: ‘the first Chinese vocabulary ever printed in the West’ (Merrill). Cordier, 26-27; Lowendahl, 146; Lust, 38. HK$54,500

CHINA IN PRINT

20 MAGAILLANS, G. de. NOUVELLE RELATION DE LA CHINE…

Quarto, large plan of Peking; contemporary French calf. Paris, Claude Barbin, 1688.An especially important book on 17th-century China, which Lach and van Kley have described as ‘perhaps the most comprehensive and perceptive general description of China published during the second half of the [17th] century’. It contains ‘what was probably the first presentation of a fragment of Chinese text to a European audience. The fragment [p. 103] consisted of sixteen characters taken from the opening lines of the Ta hsüeh [Great Learning]… Magalhaes regarded these words of Confucius… to be eminently appropriate for explaining the task of the preacher of the Christian Gospel in China’ (Mungello).Cordier, 36; Lowendahl, 189; Lust, 57. HK$55,800

21 McLEOD, John. VOYAGE OF HIS MAJESTY’S SHIP ALCESTE…

Octavo, frontispiece and coloured aquatint plates; a good copy in original boards. London, 1818.Second and best edition: this very popular book portrayed the Far East to a much wider audience than had been reached by earlier accounts.Borba de Moraes, p. 507; Hill, pp. 188-9. HK$10,000

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22 NAVARRETE, Domingo. TRATADOS HISTORICOS, POLITICOS, ETHICOS Y RELIGIOSOS DE LA MONARCHIA DE CHINA…

Small folio, calf, spine gilt. Madrid, Imprenta Real, 1676.First edition: an excellent copy of this rare book, an important early description of the Chinese Empire based on direct experiences between the 1650s and 1670s.Cordier, I, 31-2; Lowendahl, 165; Lust, 21. HK$72,500

CHINA IN PRINT

23 PALAFOX Y MENDOZA, Juan de. THE HISTORY OF THE CONQUEST OF CHINA BY THE TARTARS…

Octavo, dark calf. London, 1671.First edition of this important early work on China, now quite rare. Palafox y Mendoza served briefly as the viceroy of New Spain and while in Mexico collected “letters and memorials” on events in China as they were forwarded to him, using them to prepare this work, the second European history of the Manchu conquest.Cordier, I,627; Lowendahl, 152; Lust, 449. HK$22,600

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24 SEMEDO, Alvaro. THE HISTORY OF THAT GREAT AND RENOWNED MONARCHY OF CHINA…

Quarto, contemporary speckled calf. London, 1655.First English edition of this important study of China, the first detailed information and the best-known description of the Manchu conquest available to Europeans during the seventeenth centuryCordier, 25; Lowendahl, 95, 134 (other editions); Lust, 72. HK$102,500

CHINA IN PRINT

25 STAUNTON, Sir George. AN HISTORICAL ACCOUNT OF THE EMBASSY TO THE EMPEROR OF CHINA…

Octavo, contemporary sprinkled calf. London, 1797.An attractive copy of the reduced version of the large official narrative of the important Macartney embassy to China.Lowendahl, 698. HK$18,300

26 TIMKOVSKI, Egor Fedorovich. VOYAGE À PEKING, À TRAVERS LA MONGOLIE EN 1820 ET 1821…

Two octavo volumes in one, and a quarto atlas with lithograph plates; quarter morocco. Paris, 1826-1827.First French edition, recounting the experiences of a Russian envoy to China in the years 1820-1821. Significantly, the atlas volume includes a large plan of the Forbidden City, the first to be published in a Western book. Cordier, 2473-74; Lowendahl, 101; Lust, 551. HK$23,300

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27 SYDNEY PUNCHBOWL. REPLICA OF THE CHINESE PUNCHBOWL IN THE STATE LIBRARY OF NEW SOUTH WALES.

Porcelain bowl, 450 mm. diameter; hand-painted with a panoramic scene of Sydney Cove circa 1820; finished with complex banding. Jingdezhen, China, for Hordern House, Sydney, 2013.A replica of the precious original Chinese bowl in the collection of the Mitchell LIbrary, State Library of New South Wales, Sydney. Just twenty-five examples of the bowl were made. Details of the bowl, and of the accompanying book on the subject, can be seen on our website www.hordern.com (search “punchbowl”). HK$109,700