Kircher, Athanasius | First edition of Kircher’s monumental study of China

Kircher, Athanasius

China monumentis, qua sacris qua profanis... illustrata. Amsterdam: Janssonius van Waesberghe, 1667

Folio (385 x 255 mm). Engraved frontispiece, vignette on title, portrait of Kircher, 2 folding maps of China, 19 engraved plates, and 62 woodcuts and engravings in the text; a few closed short marginal tears, p.185/186 repaired tear, encroaching upon the engraving on p.186, light dampstaining and spotting in text leaves and plates. Contemporary vellum; slightly soiled, hinges weak.

First edition of Kircher’s comprehensive account of Chinese civilization—its geography, religion, language, and customs—based on extensive correspondence with Jesuit missionaries active in China, including the Commentarii of Matteo Ricci. The work marks several milestones in the transmission of Eastern knowledge to Europe, among them the first publication of the celebrated Nestorian inscription of 781 (in Chinese and Syriac), the first Sanskrit grammar printed in the West, and the earliest engraved appearance of Devanagari script. Issued simultaneously under the imprints of Janssonius van Waesberghe and Jacob van Meurs.

"One of the most influential books in shaping the European conception of China in its day" (Löwendahl).

REFERENCES

Merrill 20; Sommervogel IV, 1063–65, no. 24; Cordier 26; Caillet 5773; Löwendahl 133

PROVENANCE

Unidentified bookplate — Sotheby’s London, 3 December 1998, lot 73