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KIRCHER, Athanasius.
China monumentis, qua sacris qua profanis, nec non variis naturae & artis spectaculis, aliarumque rerum memorabilium argumentis illustrata ...
Meurs, Amsterdam 1667. First edition. Folio, [xvi], 237, [xi]pp., additional engraved title, engraved portrait, 2 folding maps, 23 (22 called for in list of plates, extra plate Yy2 of Brahmin script as usual), engraved plates (3 folding), 61 engravings in the text, contemporary speckled calf gilt, rebacked preserving spine, new label, corners worn.
Gathering his work from other members of the Society [of Jesuits], Kircher wrote one of the century's most influential treatises on China. His primary purpose was to establish the authenticity of the Nestorian monument discovered in Sian, and to that end he produced in print the original Chinese and Syriac inscriptions on the monument, the Chinese text in romanization, and finally a Latin translation and his explication of the Chinese and Syriac texts. In addition, Kircher included a sizeable description of China and other places in Asia. For example, in a section devoted to Christianity in China, he sketched all the old overland routes, including that of Grueber and d'Orville from Agra to Peking, as well as giving a description of Tibet. Following what he thought to be the spread of idolatry from the Near East to Persia, India, and finally to East Asia, Kircher described the religions of China, Japan, and India. There are several chapters on government, customs, geography, fauna, flora, and mechanical arts of China, and a very interesting scholarly discussion of the Chinese language. There is a long Chinese-Latin dictionary. Kircher's volume contains several beautiful pictures taken from Chinese and Mughal originals, which Grueber had brought back to Europe with him in 1664. Although the book was not the product of Kircher's own experience in China, it was frequently used or cited as a source of information by later writers. Some of the information contained in it, for example the text of the Nestorian monument, Roth's description of Hindu religion, and Grueber's description of Tibet, had not appeared in print before. (Lach). Godwin p.50 et seq.; Merrill 20; Lach vol. III, book I, passim; Cordier, Sinica, 96; De Backer/Sommervogel IV, 1064.
Price: £ 4500
US Dollar Price: $ 8930
Stock Number: 66501