Anecdotes sur l'état de la religion dans la Chine [...].

6 vol., 8vo: [2]-xlv-ix-287-96-[2], [2]-x-432-[2], vii-393-[2], [2]-vi-450, [2]-436, xii-478-[4]-105-60 pp. (browned).

Contemp. mottled calf, gilt-orn. spines with raised bands and coat of arms of Marquis de Villers on lower spine, red edges (corners sl. rubbed, some sm. def. to spines).

First edition by the papal legate and cardinal to the East Indies and China Maillard de Tournon (1668-1710). At the triggering of the Inquisition, Tournon was sent to India and China in 1703 to end the use of the Chinese and Malabar rites among the missions there (a certain amount of ancestor worship and idolatry was customarily tolerated). He met stiff resistance from the Jesuits in China who had the Emperor Kang Hsi expel Tournon from the kingdom. He died in prison at Macao. It is generally accepted that the Jesuit reports of China were coloured in favour of the order; the "Anecdotes" on the other hand somewhat balanced the picture of early Sino-European relations.
Ref. Barbier I:187 (states Michel Villermaules edited the work). - BnF.
Prov. Marquis de Villers (supralibros).