Beschreibung:

CHINA] [JOSEPH MARIE AMIOT; FRANÇOIS BOURGEOIS and others]. Mémoires concernant l'histoire, les sciences, les arts, les moeurs, les usages, &c. des Chinois: par les Missionaires de Pékin. Paris: Nyon, 1776-1791 (volumes 1-15); Treuttel and Würtz, 1814 (volume 16). Sixteen volumes, period French stained calf, all edges red. 9 7/8 x 7 7/8 inches (25 x 19.5 cm); various paginations, with two portrait frontispieces, and 153 numbered plates and tables, some folding (N.B. plate 12 in volume 6 is present twice in error, but unfortunately 11 is lacking; the duplicate is not included in the count above). Spine of the first volume very worn, lacking sections of covering, all volumes rubbed, frequently with cracked joints, a few generally minor stains within, but a clean set overall, possibly lacking plates in addition to the one noted (158 is the customary count, but there seems to be some variation), sold not subject to return. Usual Explorers Club blindstamps, bookplates. Amiot, the primary author, was in China from 1740 on, and was a confidante of the emperor Quianlong. The work includes sections on many aspects of Chinese life including music, warfare, the life of Confucius (volume 12 is the most complete work on the subject published up to that point) etc. This set has one of the two appendix volumes published in 1814, not commonly found with the Nyon edition, which they postdate by nearly two decades. Lust 96; Cordier Sinica 54-56. C The Explorers Club Collection