China - Lot 453

China DU HALDE (Jean Baptiste) Description Géographique, Historique, Chronologique, Politique, et Physique de l'Empire de la Chine et de la Tartarie chinoise, enrichie des cartes générales et particulières de ce pays, de la carte générale et des Cartes particulières du Thibet, & de la Corée. Paris, Le Mercier, 1735. 4 volumes in folio ; title, VIII, LII, IV, 592pp. ; 25 maps and plates / title, IV, 725pp., (2) ; 10 plates / title, IV, 564pp., (3) ; 5 plates / title, II, 520pp. ; 25 maps. A total of 65 maps and plates (copper-engraved after Humblot), most of them folding. Light staining at head of volume II, a few leaves slightly foxed (volumes I and IV). Contemporary marbled fawn calf, spine ribbed and decorated, headbands torn or damaged, spines split, triple cold fillet framing the boards, gilt roulettes on the edges, dull corners with small leather chips, red edges. First edition of this essential work on China by Father Du Halde, considered the best description of China. This Histoire de la Chine was the first work to provide a reasonably accurate description of the country and Chinese civilization, covering geography, customs, economy, traditions, religion and society. Provenances: Printed bookplate and stamps of the library of the Château de Valençay (Talleyrand Périgord) with, on volume III, the printed motto of the House of Talleyrand-Périgord "Re que Diou". Printed bookplate with crowned cypher, "Astron. de la Mar. de l'Ac. R. des Sc. - 1782" (Astronomer of the Royal Academy of Sciences), probably by the astronomer Charles MESSIER (1730-1817), renowned for having created the famous catalog of deep-sky objects bearing his name. Nicknamed "the comet ferret" by Louis XV, he became a member of the Académie des Sciences in 1778.