15 volumes, 4to (250 x 195 mm). Half-titles to vols.I-II and IX-XV, 2 engraved frontispiece portraits of the Qianlong Emperor and Amiot, 193 engraved plates (5 folding, plate 1, a portrait of Confucius, bound as the frontispiece to vol.XII). (Occasional light spotting and toning.) Contemporary French mottled calf, edges stained red (a few joints starting, some wear to spines, extremities, and a few lettering-pieces). Provenance: Lord Clifford Ugbrooke (Ugbrooke Library stamps). 

FIRST EDITION of this survey by Jesuit missionaries containing translations of classic Chinese works of law, essays on Chinese linguistics, philosophy, science, cultural life, and politics. Vol.VII is a reprint of Amiot's Art militaire des Chinois (Paris, 1772), considered the first translation of ancient Chinese military strategy into a European language. Missionaries who contributed to this work include Amiot, Cibot, Bourgeois, Poirot, Ko and Yang. The complete series comprises 17 volumes with vols.XVI and XVII published a few decades later in 1814 under a different imprint; complete 17 volume sets are infrequently found on the market. Brunet 3, 1596; Cordier, Sinica I, 54-55; Lust 96.