Du Royaume de Siam.

LOUBČRE, Simon de la.

Published by Abraham Wolfgang,, Amsterdam,, 1691

About this Item

2 volumes bound as 1. Second edition, published in the same years as the first, of a comprehensive work on the history of the kingdom of Siam, "Universally regarded as the finest work on seventeenth-century Thailand" (Wyatt). The French diplomat Simon de La Loubčre (1642-1729) was appointed as Louis XIV's envoy extraordinary to the court of Siam, and while he stayed in Siam for only three months he diligently and systemically asked questions, "probably stimulated by the Jesuit scientists who accompanied the mission to take more than a passing interest in Siamese cosmology, astronomy, and mathematics" (Lach & Van Kley). Loubčre compensated his short stay with a thorough study of earlier writers, referring to twenty-three European authors from Pinto to Gervaise in the first volume and collecting French translations of native works in the second. Besides presenting information on Siam itself, Loubčre also incorporates information on India and China and their influence on Siam's past.With the armorial bookplate of Anton Ernst Burckhard van Birckenstein (active 1686-1744) on paste-down. Very good copy.l STCN (6 copies); Walravens 92; cf. Lach & Van Kley III, pp. 1194-1196; Wyatt, "Introduction" in: A new historical relation of the Kingdom of Siam (1966). Contemporary slightly overlapping vellum, manuscript title on spine, blue edges. With the same woodcut printer's device on both title-pages, 2 folding engraved maps, 17 double-page engraved plates with printed music, Siamese alphabets, inhabitants etc., 21 full-page engraved plates, engraved headpiece and several woodcut illustrations in text. Pages: [8], 436, [2]; [4], 324, [1], [1 blank] pp.

Seller Inventory # 89QBOS08WBVR

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Du Royaume de Siam.
• Publisher: Abraham Wolfgang,, Amsterdam,
• Publication Date: 1691
• Seller catalogs:
  • Anthropology & Ethnography