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KIRCHER, Athanasius (1602-80). La Chine ... Illustre de Plusieurs Monuments tant Sacrs que Profanes, et de Quantit de Recherchs de la Nature et de l' Art. Amsterdam: J. Jansson et E. Weyerstraet, 1670. 2° (368 x 240mm.) Additional engraved allegorical title dated 1667, engraved portrait, 2 double-page maps, 8 engraved letterpress plates of which one folding, 14 plates and 61 engraved illustrations. (Occasional browning and tiny worm tracks to some leaves including title.) Contemporary calf, spine decorated in gilt, red speckled edges (scuffing and rubbing). Provenance: Bibliotheca Kircheriana (book label).
FIRST FRENCH EDITION of the China monumentis. The work is of remarkable importance because of the Chinese-French dictionary added at the end which is among the first (if not the first) to be printed in Europe. It is also the first work in the West to include reproductions of the Sanskrit alphabet and grammar. Brunet III, 667; Caillet 5774; Cordier Sinica, 26; Sommervogel IV, 1064, 24.
FIRST FRENCH EDITION of the China monumentis. The work is of remarkable importance because of the Chinese-French dictionary added at the end which is among the first (if not the first) to be printed in Europe. It is also the first work in the West to include reproductions of the Sanskrit alphabet and grammar. Brunet III, 667; Caillet 5774; Cordier Sinica, 26; Sommervogel IV, 1064, 24.