CONFUCIUS Le Chou-King, un des livres sacrés des... Lot 1013

CONFUCIUS Le Chou-King, un des livres sacrés des Chinois [...]. Translated & enriched with notes, by the late P. Gaubil, missionary to China. Revu & corrigé sur le texte chinois, accompagné de nouvelles notes, de planches gravées en taille-douce & d'additions tirées des historiens originaux [...]. Paris N. M. Tilliard 1770 4to: [4]-cxliv-474-[2] pp.; 4 pl. (foxing, somes quires sl. browned). Contemp. marbled calf, triple gilt-ruled boards, gilt-orn. spine with raised bands, blue marbled edges (sl. traces of use). First French edition and first translation in a western language of the Shu King, one of the Five Classics of ancient Chinese literature. Translated by the Jesuit missionary to China Antoine Gaubil (1688-1759) with additions by the Orientalist Joseph de Guignes based on an original Chinese document in the Royal Library. With a preface by the Jesuit Joseph-Henri de Prémare and an explanation on the Yi Jing, another Chinese classic, by the Jesuit sinologist Claude Visdelou, bishop of Claudiopolis. Illustrated with 4 copper-engraved plates. Ref. Cordier, Sinica, 1376-1377. - DBS III:1259:4. Prov. Stamps.