AN EMBASSY FROM THE EAST-INDIA COMPANY OF THE UNITED PROVINCES, TO THE GRAND TAR

London 1669, Macock. FIRST ENGLISH EDITION. Full leather, raised bands, gold stamped, engraved title page printed in red & black, 2 copper etched frontispieces,folio 27 x 41 cm. 327+184+106p., 121 copper etched plates, COMPLETE. RARE . .*** *** *** . . COMPLETE AS ISSUED WITH THE MAP AND ALL ENGRAVINGS . . . ONE OF THE EARLIEST BOOKS ON CHINA IN ENGLISH . . . PROFUSELLY ILLUSTRATED WITH 212 FINE COPPER-ETCHINGS . . . PUBLISHED IN THE MID 17TH CENTURY . . . A LARGE FOLIO SIZE, AN UNTRIMMED COPY AS ISSUED . . . EXCELLENT COPY WITH GOLD-STAMPED SPINES & DECORATIONS . . . BOUND IN FULL PERIOD LEATHER . . . A DUTCH RECORD OF THE EAST INDIA COMPANY . . . ARRIVED IN CANTON MARCH 1656, ARRIVED NANKING JULY 1656 . . . AN HISTORIC AUDENCE & VISIT WITH THE SHUNZHI EMPEROR. . . *** This is the primary record of the Dutch Embassy to Nanking [Nanjing], China. It is also an historic and first meeting by the Dutch with the SHUNZHI EMPEROR [Shun-chih] [1638-1661]. . *** SUBTITLE From the Title Page continued: . "Where in the Cities, Towns, Villages, Ports, Rivers &c., in Their Paffages From Canton to Peking, are Ingenioufly Defcribed by Mr. John Nieuhoff, Steward to the Ambassadours" [sic]. . "Also an Epistle of Father John Adams Their Antagonift, Concerning the Whole Negotiation. With an Appendix of Feveral Remarks Taken Out of Father Athanasivs Kircher, Englifhed and Fet Forth With Their Feveral Sculptures, by JOHN OGILBY, EFQ.; Mafter of His Majefties Revels in The Kingdom of Ireland." [Many important words on the title page are printed in red ink.] . *** THE TITLE PAGE IMPRINT: London, Printed by John Maock, for the Author, MDCLXIX [1659]. End of title page text. . *** WRITTEN IN "OLDE ENGLISH" STYLE SPELLING: This work was written in "Olde English" of the period and commonly used "f" for "s" therefore per the above, we faithfully repeat the exact spelling found on the title page. This custom continued throughout the 17th and early 18th centuries in England. . *** THE TWO FULL-PAGE ENGRAVED FRONTISPIECES: The first copper etched frontispiece is of John Ogilby, followed by an engraved title page, after which comes the red and black printed title page. . The title pages of both first and second editions were printed in red and black ink, as issued. There is also an engraved and copper etched illustrated title page. . *** THE 121 COPPER-ENGRAVED ILLUSTRATIONS: . THE FOLDING MAP "DEFCRIPTION OF CHINA" The double-page copper etched folding map [ca 45.5 x 36.5 cm.] map was done by Nieuhoff, engraved by Arclhibaldo Erskino. This map shows China and its provinces; Part of Tartary, Tanyn, Korea, Japan, Formosa, the tip of the Philippines, Aynam [Tunking= N. Vietnam], Kingdom of Cannan [Cambodia & Laos]. The area from Canton northward, follows an imaginary river up to Nanking, to Pekin with all smaller cities, lakes in between. . CONDITION OF THE MAP: The map is in excellent condition with some old folds, and one old small tear mend to the verso, it is solid and stable and complete . *** THE COPPER-ENGRAVED PLATES: FULL AND ONE-THIRD PAGE SIZE: . There are 41 full-page copper engraved plates, 26.5 x 41 cm. [sheet size], average image size 22 x 31 cm. The text engravings are average 15 or 16.5 x 9.5 or 10 cm. Many engravings by Hollar. . Note: Because there is no printed list of plates in this work, the actual location of some of the full-page engravings may differ or not be present. Also, the engraving count may differ between the various copies and editions. These early books were assembled by very young and mostly illiterate "printer's devil." The insertion of the plates were commonly inserted upside down, or omitted by their error. Due to this reason, total print count may vary. On page 220, the one-third engraving: "CHINESE PRIESTS AND MONKS" is upside down. There is a pagination error from page 184, where the page numbers skip to page 205 and continue onward. This simply means an error in the numbering the pages, nothing is missing or lacking.…