KIRCHER, Athanasius.
Tooneel van China.
Amsterdam, Johannes Janssonius van Waesberge and the widow of Elizaeus Weyerstraten, 1668. Folio. With engraved frontispiece, engraved author's portrait, 24 engraved plates (including 2 double-page maps and 1 folding plate) and 60 engraved illustrations in text (plus another copy on a separate leaf, without letterpress text, of the engraving on 2F3v). Including maps of China and Asia, traditional Chinese costumes, illustrations of the Chinese and the Mughal rulers in abundantly decorated rooms, linguistic illustrations, zoological illustrations, etc. Contemporary gold-tooled calf, later endpapers (re-cased). [12], 286, [10] pp.
€ 8,000
First and only edition of Glazemaker's Dutch translation of China illustrata, "one of the most influential books in shaping the European conception of China in its Day" (Löwendahl), by the great Jesuit scientist Athanasius Kircher (1601/02-1680). The work is divided into six parts, the first on the inscriptions of the famous Nestorian monument (early Chinese Christian inscriptions, in Chinese and Syriac lettering), the second part gives a history of China and early Christianity, the third on idolatry in Chinese and other Asian cultures, including Indian and Japanese, the fourth describes China's government, its cities and its nature, the fifth details China's architectural and mechanical marvels and in the sixth Kircher returns to the Chinese language and the origins of its characters.
Including the engraved author's portrait, often lacking. The first and last few leaves a bit frayed at the edges, some spots and a few plates and leaves slightly browned, otherwise in good condition. The binding recased and with some restorations, rubbed along the edges and three of the compartments of the spine somewhat loose. A fascinating and well-illustrated account of China, mixing fact and fiction, but bringing both to a newly eager and curious public. Cordier, Sinica, col. 26; Löwendahl 136 (cf. 132); cf. Merrill, Athanasius Kircher 20.
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