RICCI, Matteo

by Matteo Ricci

£4,950 · Offered by Sokol Books

First edition of this Italian translation of De Christiana expeditione apud Sinas suscepta ab Societate Jesu , one of the most influential accounts of China to appear in Europe in the 17th century. A record of contemporary China and the progress of the church there, it was primarily based on journals written by Matteo Ricci during his time on the Jesuit mission. Originally written in Italian but first published in a Latin translation by fellow Jesuit Nicolas Trigaut, the present Italian translation by Antonio Sozzini is itself based on this Latin translation, as are all other translations, including French, German, and Spanish. This work was found posthumously in Ricci s Beijing office and subsequently published. The excellence of the historical record and the deep connection and relationship that Ricci had with the country and culture make this an outstanding text, and a unique work for 17th century Europe. Ricci was the first Westerner to live in China for more than a few months, and one of the few to speak and read Chinese at a time when Chinese civilisation was still unknown in Europe; Ricci himself says that all other contemporaneous accounts of China are either based on imagination or on rumour. Ricci s text is an encyclopaedic account of late Ming China in five books, and covers its geography, politics, and culture as well as its philosophy and religions. It is an interesting ethnographical document, as Ricci covers the use of bamboo, coal mining and distribution, tea

• Binding: Hardcover

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