Le christianisme en Chine, en Tartarie et au Thibet [...].

4 vol., 8vo; fold. map (text n.c., sl. foxing, sometimes extensive, map browned).

Contemp. half green sheep, gilt-ruled flat spines (rubbed, spines faded, labels pasted on spines, one removed).

First edition of a history of the propagaton of christianism in China from the apostolate of St Thomas until the Treaty of Tientsin. Complete with the fold. map in colour. Abbé Huc (1813-1860) was a Lazarite missionary, famous for his accounts of Qing-era China, Mongolia and especially Tibet which was almost unknown at that time. He and his companion Joseph Gabet were the first Europeans reaching Lhasa since Thomas Manning in 1812. To escape attention, they entered the city dressed in lamas.
Ref. Cordier, Sinica, 770. - Caillet 5294.
Prov. Erased stamps on titles.