EMBASSY TO CHINA
PRIDEAUX, HUMPHREY (+) BRAND, ADAM.
La Vie de Mahomet, Où l'on découvre amplement la Verité de l'Imposture (+) Relation du voyage de Mr Evert Isbrand, envoyé de Sa Majesté czarienne à l'empereur de Chine, en 1692, 93 & 94.
Amsterdam, George Gallet, 1698 (+) Amsterdam, Lorme, 1699.
8vo. In a nice contemporary Cambridge-style mirror binding with five raised bands and richly gilt spine. Small paper-label pasted on to top of spine. Lower part of front board with small hole in leather, showing the wooden boards underneath. With a few occassional brownspots. Line of imprint trimmed off in the second work and small tear to the map ('Relation du voyage de Mr Evert Isbrand'), otherwise a nice and clean copy. (6), 164, (4) pp. + frontispiece and 8 engraved plates; (4), 249, (1) pp. + folded map. Wanting the frontispiece.
First French translation of Adam Brand’s ‘Relation du voyage’, an 18-month journey to Beijing where he served as the embassy’s secretary. In 1692, Tsar Peter the Great commissioned Eberhard Isbrand Ides to lead a mission to the Kangxi Emperor of China, with Adam Brand functioning as the embassy's secretary. The delegation, comprising over 250 individuals including noblemen, advisors, merchants, and soldiers, arrived in Beijing after an 18-month journey in 1693. The embassy's primary accomplishment was securing permission for Russians to conduct business in Beijing with a caravan of up to 200 members every three years. The present work became extremely popular in Western Europe and it was quickly translated into various European languages including English (1698 and 1707), French (1699), Dutch (1699) and Spanish (1701). Withbound is Prideaux' "La Vie de Mahomet".
Order-nr.: 61339
DKK 7.500,00