Second voyage du père Tachard et des jésuites envoyez par le roy au royaume de Siam. Contenant diverses remarques d'histoire, de physique, de géographie, & d'astronomie.

4to: [8]-416 [= 436]-[12] pp.; 6 pl. (sl. marg. damp stain, pp. 303/304, as in other copies probably blank, here not present).

Contemp. mottled calf, gilt-orn. spines with raised bands (head, edges and corners repaired, sl. rubbing).

First edition of the second travel account by the French missionary Tachard (1651-1712), who was first sent to the Caribbean and then twice to the Kingdom of Siam by Louis XIV to establish diplomatic relations. Ill. with an engr. portrait medallion on title, an engr. headp. and 6 fold. pl. showing the fauna and flora, a.o. a pangolin. The Jesuits were authorized to preach Christianity in Siam and Tachard remained in the country while the mission continued to China. In 1687, Tachard returned to France with the ambassador of Siam who made an offer of "eternal alliance" to Louis XIV. Tachard then was part of the important expedition which brought the ambassador back to Siam, but nationalist movements led to the end of the reign of the Siamese king. Tachard, however, continued to travel back and forth between France and Siam and India where he died in 1712.
Ref. Cordier, Indosinica, 953. - Cox I:328. - Chadenat 187. - DBS VII:1802. - Nissen (ZBI) 4067.