Matteo Ricci (1552-1610) – Nicolas Trigault (1577-1628, editor)
Histoire de l'expedition chrestienne au royaume de la Chine. Translated into French by D. F. de Riquebourg-Trigault. Lyon: Horace Cardon, 1616.
First French edition of one of the century’s most important works on China. First published in Augsburg by Christopher Mangius (1615), ‘this chronicle about the Western mission in China from 1583-1611… provided a systematic portrait of contemporary Chinese society as perceived by Ricci, who was fluent in Chinese and exhibited both a sympathetic interest in Chinese culture and an erudite perspective on the Jesuits' accomplishments. [This work] was among the most important and widely read books on China published during the seventeenth century’ (Marcia Reed and Paola Demattè, China on Paper, 2011). Cordier Sinica I, 809; De Backer & Sommervogel VIII, 240; Streit V: 2096.

Octavo (170 x 110mm). Engraved title, frontispiece portrait and folding woodcut and letterpress plate (some minor pale browning and staining). Contemporary limp vellum, title inscribed in manuscript on spine (missing sewing support at one corner resulting in a slight detachment from the textblock, some staining).

early inscriptions to endpapers – Jean R. Perrette (his sale, Christie’s NY, April 05, 2016, lot 185).

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