Large folio (540 x 375 mm). 21 engraved plates. (Spotting, one plate trimmed short and bound backwards.) Modern half calf, contemporary marbled boards. Provenance: John Gregory Crau? (bookplate)

FIRST EDITION OF CHAMBER'S EMINENT WORK ON CHINESE DESIGN. Chambers, a Scottish architect, "gained the original inspiration for these designs on a voyage to Canton with the Swedish East India Company. They were never intended for publication, but Chambers was persuaded to make them public by a number of influential admirers of chinoiserie, including Augusta, Dowager Princess of Wales" (BAL RIBA 595). Colas 592; Harris 113; Lipperheide 12; Millard 12.