NIEUHOF, Jan - Lot 120

NIEUHOF, Jan The Embassy of the Oriental Company of the United Provinces to the Emperor of China, or Grand Cam of Tartary. Leiden, Jacob de Meurs, 1665. In-folio (369 x 232 mm) with an engraved allegorical frontispiece and portrait, 7 ff.n.ch., 1 large engraved folding map, 290 pp., additional leaves 116 & 117, 134 pp., 1 f.n.ch. notice to the binder. Re-used stiff vellum, smooth spine, red edges. Chadenat, I, 140; Landwehr, VOC, 540; Lust, 534; Cordier, Sinica, 2345-2346; Löwendahl 127; Cox I, 325. First edition of the French translation by Jean Le Carpentier, of the account of the famous embassy of Pierre de Goyer and Jacob de Keyser, sent by the East India Council to China. It was published the same year as the original Dutch edition. Jan Nieuhof (1618-1672), explorer and ambassador, joined the East India Company at a very young age. He went to Brazil in 1640 for his first voyage and returned to Europe in 1649. In 1653 he left for Batavia where he arrived in May 1654. From there Nieuhof was sent by the Company as steward of the diplomatic mission to China, headed by Pierre de Goyer and Jacob de Keyser. The purpose of this mission was to open the country to Dutch merchants and goods. Due to a bad reputation given by the Portuguese competitors and by a misunderstanding of the Chinese of the political organization of Holland, then a republic, the mission was a failure and returned to Batavia in 1657. Nieuhof returned to Europe in 1657 but soon resumed his life as a traveler. He disappeared in 1671 while anchored on the Malagasy coast. The account of this voyage was very successful, notably because of its rich iconography, and it was quickly translated into other languages (French, German, Latin). It is one of the very first descriptions of China. Very richly illustrated, identical to the Dutch model, it is decorated with an allegorical frontispiece, a portrait of Colbert to whom this edition is dedicated, a large folding map, 34 double-page plates and 108 vignettes in the text. The 34 double-page plates show views of Chinese cities as well as the map of the Imperial City. The large vignettes illustrate the flora, fauna, and habits and customs of the Chinese. The second part with separate pagination is entitled General Description of the Empire of China. A complete copy of all required plates. Frontispiece short of margins and rebacked; rebacked binding with renewed endpapers.