Athanasius Kircher (1602-1680) - photo 1
Athanasius Kircher (1602-1680) - photo 2
Athanasius Kircher (1602-1680) - photo 3
Athanasius Kircher (1602-1680) - photo 4

Athanasius Kircher (1602-1680)

Starting price
£ 3 000
Auction dateClassic
09.12.2020 00:00UTC +01:00
Auctioneer
CHRISTIE'S
Event location
United Kingdom, London
Archive
The auction is completed. No bids can be placed anymore.
Archive
ID 470240
Lot 142 | Athanasius Kircher (1602-1680)
Athanasius Kircher (1602-1680)

China monumentis. 1667

KIRCHER, Athanasius (1602-1680) China monumentis, qua sacris qua profanis, nec non variis naturae & artis spectaculis. Amsterdam: Joannem Janssonium, 1667.



A fine copy of the first edition of a richly illustrated account on China, bound in a handsome contemporary binding of blindstamped pigskin. It was an 'influential general description of China' (Lust) with sections on language, Chinese script, natural history and one devoted to the 8th-century Nestorian stele, excavated in 1625. The Latin text is based on descriptions by European explorers, many of them Jesuits - as Kircher was himself - in China, India, and other Asian countries. The engravings were based on explorers' sketches and original images imported from Asia. Honeyman V, 1824; Caillet 5773; Brunet III, 666; Lust 37.



Folio (374 x 242mm). Engraved frontispiece, vignette on title, portrait, one folding and one double-page map, 8 tables, one folding, 15 plates, one folding, and 59 illustrations, all engraved (folding table with long neat tear into image repaired without loss, very occasional variable light browning and spotting). Contemporary blindstamped pigskin over wooden boards, sides panelled, one Spes roll with initials I.W., metal cornerpieces and clasps (extremities lightly rubbed). Provenance: panels on upper cover rubbed, presumably to remove contemporary name/date.

Place of origin:Asia
Auction house category:Books
Address of auction CHRISTIE'S
8 King Street, St. James's
SW1Y 6QT London
United Kingdom
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09.12.2020 – 09.12.2020
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