Toonneel van China, door veel, zo geestelijke als werreltlijke geheugteekenen, verscheide vertoningen van de natuur en kunst, en blijken van veel andere gedenkwaerdige dingen, geopent en verheerlykt.

Folio: [12, incl. front.]-286-[10] pp.; 24 pl. (browning, spotting & soiling, a few tears in pl. underlaid, sm. wormtracks and wormholes in 1st & last ff.).

Contemp. calf, covers with gilt central flower orn. ruled with a dubble gilt fillet, gilt-orn. spine with raised bands and a label (head missing, covers rubbed with scratches and tiny wormholes, joints loosening).

First & only edition of the Dutch translation by J.H. Glazemaker (1620-1682) of the monumental work on China by the German Jesuit scholar Kircher (1602-1680), an important source on early western sinology up until today. Engr. ill.: front. (in Latin, dated "1667"), 60 pl. in text and 24 plates (some folding), incl. 2 maps of China and Asia, Oriental script specimina (Chinese, Syriac), gods, dresses, animals, etc. This work renders the first publication of the original Chinese and Syriac text of the Nestorian stele that had been unearthed between 1623 and 1625; the consecutive chapters deal with the journeys undertaken in China, with parallels between Western, Indian, Chinese and Japanese idolatry, with fauna, flora, architecture and mechanical arts, as well as with the Chinese script. Woodcut ornament on title.
Ref. Cordier (Sinica) 26. - DBS IV:1064:24. - Tiele 601. - STCN. - Cat. Glazemaker (1982) nr. 85. - Not in BL.
Prov. Ms. entry & bookpl. erased.