TACHARD (Guy). Voyage de Siam, des pères jésuites, envoyés p - Lot 221

TACHARD (Guy). Voyage de Siam, des pères jésuites, envoyés par le Roy aux Indes & à la Chine. Avec leurs observations astronomiques, et leurs remarques de physique, de géographie, d'hydrographie, et d'histoire. Paris, Arnould Seneuze & Daniel Horthemels, 1686. In-4, (16)-424-(8) p., contemporary brown calf, spine ribbed, red title page, edges speckled, corners and headpieces restored (small stains on boards, some spotting and soiling). First edition. Illustrated with 20 plates, including 10 fold-outs, and 7 head vignettes, engraved by Cornelis Vermeulen after Pierre-Paul Sevin. First voyage of the Jesuit Guy Tachard (1651-1712), appointed in 1685 to the embassy of Alexandre de Chaumont, sent by Louis XIV to the King of Siam Ramathibodi III, known as Narai the Great. His account offers invaluable insights into Siam, Cochinchina and Tonkin, Indonesia (Java, Sumatra, Bantam, Batavia) and the reception of the Jesuits by the Dutch at the Cape of Good Hope. (Cordier, Bibl. Indosinica, 947; De Backer-Sommervogel, VII, 1802). Provenance: Masonic bookplate of J. Charles de Labarthe, one of the founders of the Société d'ethnographie la société d'ethnographie (Paris sale, 1872, no. 189).