PALAFOX Y MENDOZA (Juan de). History of the conquest of Chin - Lot 165

PALAFOX Y MENDOZA (Juan de). History of the conquest of China by the Tartars. Contenant plusieurs choses remarquables, touchant la religion, les moeurs, et les coutumes de ces deux nations, & principalement de la dernière. Paris, Antoine Bertier, 1670, small In-8, (16)-478-(1) p., 1 plate, contemporary brown calf, spine ribbed, restorations (spine browned, upper guard missing, freckles, last 2 f. restored with 1 word missing). First edition in French, based by Collé on the Spanish original published the same year (1670), illustrated with an engraved plate opposite the original title. Recounting the fall of the last Ming emperor on April 24, 1644, followed by the proclamation of the first Qing emperor, Shunzi or the 17th-century Manchu conquest of China, recounted by Juan de Palafox y Mendoza (1600-1659), a bishop in Mexico who added to the historical events with details of the art of war and Manchu customs. Handwritten inscription in black Chinese ink 1670 on the edges and handwritten supra-libris Dolisle . The engraved plate, usually placed in the frontispiece, is found here after the introductory pages. (Cordier, Sinica I, 627; Palau XII, 209791).