Rare first French edition of the work considered “the first to give anything approaching a correct and detailed account of China and the Far East” (PMM), and perhaps the most influential travel book of all time. This first appearance in French should possibly be linked to topical interest in the..... More
Very rare first edition of this account of the conversion of three Muslim kings to Christianity in the East Indies, and apparently representing a sort of semi-fictionalized popular digest based on three genuine Jesuit relations. The present work is notable for its account of early activities on Salsette Island, the..... More
Rare first French edition – here in a magnificent, contemporary Parisian binding – of the Spanish Augustinian Juan Gonzalez de Mendoza’s (1545-1618) groundbreaking treatise on China, a work considered “the most comprehensive and popular book on Ming China to appear in Europe” (Lach, I.ii, p. 330). Though substantially based on..... More
Rare first edition and the first and rarest of this series of Portuguese-language reports from missions overseas, with a decided emphasis on Asia. Separately issued in 5 publications over a period of 8 years, the first volume appeared in 1603 and the last concluded in 1611. Because the individual volumes..... More
Rare first German edition of this influential Jesuit letterbook from China describing Matteo Ricci’s acceptance at the court of Peking and marking a shift in European perceptions of China from “a view of China as seen from Macao to a view of China from within.” (de Paula Nogueira, p. 426)..... More
Scarce first edition and an attractive copy, bound in what must be a presentation binding with the image of Saint Benedict stamped on the front cover and the arms of the author stamped on the back cover. The work is one of the more fanciful illustrated chronicles devoted to the..... More
Rare first French edition of the earliest written eyewitness account of Japan, possibly made by the first European to visit that country. The Portuguese adventurer Mendes Pinto went to India in 1537, and spent some years pirating on the coasts of Burma, South-east Asia and China. He claims to have..... More
First French edition of this first-hand account of 17th-century Vietnam (first Italian ed. 1650), which played an important role in fostering French interest in the region. Rhodes, who earned the favorable opinion of Louis XIV, is often heralded as the founder of Vietnamese Christianity, and remembered for his important dictionary..... More
Stunning copy of this "important and influential history of the Ottoman Empire, based on an important collection of source material, which includes Leonard of Chios letter on the fall of Constantinople, Spandugino's account of Ottoman life and manners, and the accounts of Giovio, Menavino, Barletius and others" (Atabey 1088). The..... More
First edition in English, first issue of the most famous biography in the Portuguese language. D. João de Castro (b. 1500, Lisbon) was a sailor, soldier, scientist and cartographer. At an early age he became a brilliant humanist, studying mathematics under Pedro Núñez. After fighting at Tangiers and Tunis, he..... More
The third, enlarged, and best edition of Bartoli's L'Asia descritta, rarely found complete as offered here. This work was intended to cover the Jesuit experience in the Far East, including Japan and China since the Order's first arrival there in the mid-sixteenth century. The volume on China appeared just before Kircher's China illustrata, and..... More
Rare first edition of this account of the state of Christianity in Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam by rivals of the Jesuits. The Société des Missions Etrangères, a new apostolic missionary group established in Paris in 1660, was as a society of secular priests who devoted their lives to foreign missions but..... More
Rare first edition of this travel guide to the Ottoman Empire, doubling as a virulent call for a latter-day crusade against the Turks. The author, a soldier and traveler turned monk, became consul at Damietta in Egypt in 1644 before returning to Europe. His detailed travelogue covers a great deal..... More
Extremely rare first edition of this ephemeral pamphlet documenting the royal audience of the Siamese embassy to France in 1686/7. The arrival of three Siamese ambassadors in northern France in the summer of 1686 caused a great deal of consternation in the popular sphere: illustrations of the embassy were frequently..... More
Scare first edition of this document relating to the British occupation of Manila during the Anglo-Spanish War of 1762-3, and an interesting case of international law. In September of 1762, under the command of Draper and Cornish, a British fleet of 13 ships containing over 6000 men attacked Manila and..... More
First edition of one of the first French works on commerce in Russia, including a noteworthy early map of Alaska. “Extremely detailed and worth studying” (Lada-Mocarski). Describing Russia’s contemporary situation, government, and both domestic and international trade, the book includes tables of all exports—from caviar to gingerbread—and “comptes simulés”—sample receipts..... More
Rare first Venetian edition (appearing in the same year that the first Italian-language edition was published in Rome) of the Spanish Augustinian Juan Gonzalez de Mendoza’s (1545-1618) groundbreaking treatise on China, a work considered “the most comprehensive and popular book on Ming China to appear in Europe” (Lach, I.ii, p...... More