Anecdotes, Chinoises, Japonoises, Siamoises, Tonquinoises, &c., Dans lesquelles on s'est attaché principalement aux moeurs, usages, coutumes, & religions de ces différens peuples de l'Asie.

Chez Vincent, Paris., 1774 FIRST EDITION. 8vo, 422 + 234 + 52 + 32 printed pages. Engraved headpieces and decorated initials (some very light age toning and a few leaves with very light historic ink staining confined to the lower margins and lower text block). Original faded silk place-marker. All edges gilt. Marbled endpapers with contemporary former owner's engraved bookplate. 11 x 16.5 cm. Full contemporary emerald green morocco (slightly rubbed and corners bumped and worn). Spine with floral gilt tooling in compartments with fleuron corner-pieces within double fillet gilt borders; contrasting red lettering piece with gilt titling (faded and with some small areas of a darker hue). Upper and lower covers with scrolling gilt hand-tooled fleurons within single fillet gilt borders. Provenance: Dom. Pet. Joan Charpentier, nat. maj. ("In Parisiens. Cur. Reg. Advocati. [the court of royal advocates] 1824"). First and only edition of this historical work on China, Japan, Siam (Thailand), Tonkin & Cochinchina (Vietnam), Burma (Myanmar), Laos, Cambodia, Tibet, etc., by the French author Jean Castillon (1718-1799). The text is divided geographically into five parts, each with its own pagination, but sharing a single series of quire signatures. The first part covers China, with descriptions and a history of the country from 2941 BC, including its religion, military history and customs. A chapter at the end of this part gives a detailed account of the production of Chinese silk (pp. 339-369), followed by a section on Chinese porcelain (pp. 370-422).The second part covers the history and customs of Japan, with a description of its foreign trade, especially with Holland. The third part describes the kingdom of Siam, the fourth Tonkin and Cochinchin, and the fifth, titled Anecdotes de la presqu'isle au dela du Gange, covers Azem, Ava, Pegu, Laos, Arakan, Boulau, Tipra, Tibet, Malacca, and Cambodia. Castillon wrote several works, most published anonymously, and he edited historical and literary periodicals. l Cordier, Japonica, 442; Cordier, Sinica, 54; Nouvelle biographie generale 9, 117-8; Brunet VI, 28295; Alt Japan Kat. 309; not in Lust. WorldCat locates only three UK copies at the London Library, Oxford University, & National Library of Scotland.. 1st Edition. Hardcover. Very Good.