Details
JOHANN NIEUHOFF (1630-1672)
Legationio Batavica ad Magnum Tartariae Chamum Sungteium Sinae Imperatorem. Amsterdam: Jan van Meurs, 1668. 2° (30 x 20cm). Title with engraved vignette. Engraved additional title, portrait of the author, folding map, 35 double-page plates, 109 half-page illustrations, one mounted. (Small hole at inner margin occasionally affecting image or text.) Old vellum, yapp fore-edges, green cloth ties. Provenance: Wolfgang Engelbert, Graf von Auersperg (inscription); Geraman & Johanna Auersperg de Mailhos (armorial bookplate).
FIRST EDITION IN LATIN. The Dutch edition had appeared three years earlier. Nieuhoff accompanied Pieter van Goyer and Jakob de Keyser on the largely unsuccessful embassy on behalf of the Dutch East India Company. Setting out from Batavia, they arrived at Canton 17 March 1656, and were in Nanking by July 17th. Chinese beaurocracy, court etiquette and the opposition of the Jesuits all conspired to prevent any major concessions being granted. They returned to Batavia on 31 March 1657. In 1672 Nieuhoff disappeared whilst on a trading mission in Madagascar. Brunet IV.77.
Legationio Batavica ad Magnum Tartariae Chamum Sungteium Sinae Imperatorem. Amsterdam: Jan van Meurs, 1668. 2° (30 x 20cm). Title with engraved vignette. Engraved additional title, portrait of the author, folding map, 35 double-page plates, 109 half-page illustrations, one mounted. (Small hole at inner margin occasionally affecting image or text.) Old vellum, yapp fore-edges, green cloth ties. Provenance: Wolfgang Engelbert, Graf von Auersperg (inscription); Geraman & Johanna Auersperg de Mailhos (armorial bookplate).
FIRST EDITION IN LATIN. The Dutch edition had appeared three years earlier. Nieuhoff accompanied Pieter van Goyer and Jakob de Keyser on the largely unsuccessful embassy on behalf of the Dutch East India Company. Setting out from Batavia, they arrived at Canton 17 March 1656, and were in Nanking by July 17th. Chinese beaurocracy, court etiquette and the opposition of the Jesuits all conspired to prevent any major concessions being granted. They returned to Batavia on 31 March 1657. In 1672 Nieuhoff disappeared whilst on a trading mission in Madagascar. Brunet IV.77.