The Library of Philip Robinson. Part II: The Chinese Collection.

Sothebys

Published by Sothebys, London, 1988

About this Item

195pp., 27x21cms., illustrated in colour and black & white throughout. Very good copy that includes a full price list showing the hammer price plus 10% buyer's premium. Philip Robinson's collection of Chinese books was achieved over 50 years and its inspiration derived from Prof. Joseph Needham's observation that the approach of the Jesuits to China was an event without parallel in the history of contact between civilizations. In the early days that approach there seems to have been two main recipients in Europe of news and artifacts from China - the Vatican, and the Jesuits' own college at Clermont. In 1764 the Jesuits in France were suppressed partly, it is said, through the intrigue of the Marquise de Pompadour and Choiseul. The Society's property was sequestered. The renowned library of the College of Clermont was purchased 'en bloc' in 1764 by the Dutch collector Gerard Meerman. On his death Meerman's library, then one of the most famous collections in Europe, was dispersed in a long series of auction sales from 8 June to 3 July 1824. These were attended in person by Sir Thomas Phillipps (1792-1872) who is sometimes described as "the greatest collector of books and manuscripts that the world has ever known". It was in 1946 that Philip Robinson became associated with the vast residue of the Phillipps collection; an event which afforded him exceptional opportunities of extending his collection. Also represented in the collection are books from the library of the first British ambassador to China, Lord Macartney (1737-1806) whose library was sold by Puttick and Simpson on 24 January 1854. It includes Jesuit 'Relations' and Martini's 'Sinicae historiae,' 1659, as well as a charming Imperial resript welcoming Macartney as the distinguished representative of the "country of the red hairs". Books acquired in Sotheby's sale of the library of Sir George Leonard Staunton (1757-1801) who accompanied Macartney to China and of his son Sir George Thomas Staunton (1781-1859) the writer on China, provide an associated provenance. Another source of important acquisitions was the series of sales of Puttick and Simpson between 1828 and 1835 of the collections of Frederick, Lord North (1766-1827). From the Puttick and Simpson sale of 4 February 1863 came material taken at the capture of Peking (1860), including an outstanding series of watercolours of Chinese Court Costume from the Summer Palace. The Chinese books and manuscripts emanating from the collections of two leading French sinologists Joseph de Guignes (1721-1800) and Jean-Pierre Abel-Remusat (1788-1832) include products from the early Protestant press at Malacca. This is an exceptional collection, here catalogued and illustrated in a Sothebys sales catalogue dated 22nd November 1988. To quote Philip Robinson "Once in a while, at long intervals, examples had come my way of the printed products of the early Jesuit missionaries in China: that astonishing group of men who entered China at the end of the sixteenth century . the subject fascinated me and I decided I would like these early Jesuit printings emanating from China. It would have the delight of being difficult. Alas! I was soon to discover how difficult, how unreasonable it was to endeavour to form a collection of these items of such a consistent degree of rarity.whose extreme rarity was the norm and the term unique frequent." Also included is the actual selling price list for the sale. Among the 270 treasures purchaes that day was one of four known copies of the first issue of Matteo Ricci's third world map [Kunyu wanguo quantu - map of the ten thousand countries of the earth, Peking 17 August 1602). The map has a two page catalogue entry and is reproduced on a fold-out plate. It sold for £209,000.

Seller Inventory # 001467

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Library of Philip Robinson. Part II: The Chinese Collection.
• Publisher: Sothebys, London
• Publication Date: 1988
• Language: English
• Binding: Paper
• Condition: Very Good