Thro’ Great Ustiga, Siriana, Permia, Sibiria, Daour, Great Tartary, &C. To Peking

By Ides, Evert Ysbrants

London, (printed in the year 1705), for W. Freeman, F. Walthoe, T. Newborough, and R. Parker, 1706, First English Edition. 8vo– 22.6 cm. [14],110,[2],115-210pp. plus a large folding map and thirty plates – eight od which are fold-outs. Modern paneled calf, spine with five raised bands and ornate gilt filled compartments, title in gilt on speckled brown morocco; pages trimmed over time, very light scattered foxing. A complete copy of a Rare publication.

The primary purpose of the expedition was to conclude further commercial agreements with the Chinese. The expedition took place from 1692 to 1695. Before the Tartars became masters of China, it was almost impossible for foreigners to find admittance to the Imperial Court. Kang-hi was desirous of preventing Russian encroachments upon his territories and the Czar was anxious to establish a regular commerce with China. The expedition added considerable geographical knowledge to the little that was known about Manchuria and China” (Cox). The second half of the book consists of “A Short Description of the vast Empire of China by Dionysius Kao,” a Chinese doctor, who practiced in Siam and India, and who was a convert to Catholicism. Cordier 2468. Cox I, p. 331. Lust 519. Löwendahl 294.

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