HEYLYN (Peter). Cosmography the third books containing the c - Lot 99

HEYLYN (Peter). Cosmography the third books containing the chorography and history of the lesser and greater Asia and all the principle kingdoms, provinces, seas and isles thereof. London, Printed for Henry Seile, 1656. In-folio, [1] f. (title), [131] f. paginated [639]-[925], [2] f. (errata, table), 19th c. purple half-percaline, smooth mute spine (spine unstained, boards rubbed, edges worn, accident repaired to title, sporadic light wetness, few small missing pieces, map trimmed short). Second edition. Third (and only) part, devoted to Asia, of Cosmographie in four books, containing the chorographie and historie of the whole world, (1652), by the English historian and geographer, personal chaplain to King Charles I, Peter Heylin (1599-1622). The work is illustrated with a large fold-out map and, in fine, a longitude and latitude table of the main cities mentioned. The countries studied are : Cyprus, Syria, Palestine, Arabia, Chaldea, Assyria, Mesopotamia, Turkey, Persia, Tartary, China, India, Oriental Islands: Japan, Philippines, Java, Borneo... This Cosmography is a unique 17th-century attempt to describe in meticulous detail every aspect of the world known at the time: geography, climate, customs, habitat, politics and belief systems. The work was a major success, and was frequently reprinted. (Cordier, Indosinica, I, 715).