207 - China - MAGAILLANS (Gabriel de). A New Account of China, Containing a Description of the Most Notable Features of This Great Empire. Paris, Barbin, 1688.

China - MAGAILLANS (Gabriel de). A New Account of China, Containing a Description of the Most Notable Features of This Great Empire. Paris, Barbin, 1688. In-4, light calfskin, decorated ribbed spine, double gilt fillet on the edges, gilt interior wheel (contemporary binding). Rare first edition. A Portuguese missionary of the Society of Jesus, Rev. Fr. Magaillans (1609–1677) left for Goa in 1634 and Macao in 1636 before being sent to China, first to Hangzhou (Zhejiang) in 1640 and then to Chengdu (Sichuan) in 1642. He finally settled in Beijing in 1648, where he was warmly welcomed by the first Qing emperor, Shunzhi, but he died as a result of the mistreatment he suffered following the emperor’s death in 1662. His work, published in Portuguese in 1668, is a valuable source of information on China’s recent history, its political organization, a description of the Imperial City, Chinese sciences and knowledge, Confucianism, and Christian inculturation. A fine copy. (Some restoration; old water damage affecting a few folios.)