TRAVEL. MAPS AND PLANS., SET of 3 works comprising 7 volumes.

-LOUBÈRE, Simon de la. On the Kingdom of Siam. Paris: Coignard, 1691. In-12. (13)-555-(4) pp. Fine, finely grained fawn sheepskin of the period, ribbed spine, title label, floral panels, gilt scrolls (binding rubbed). Volume One. Illustrated with several engraved plates, some of which are fold-out, engraved headpieces and figures, a table and a musical score, all engraved on copper in black. A rare first edition. An early work on the history of the Kingdom of Siam, ‘regarded as the finest work on 17th-century Thailand’ (Wyatt). The French diplomat Simon de La Loubère (1642–1729) was Louis XIV’s envoy extraordinary to the court of Siam; although he stayed there for only three months, he undertook significant methodological work, ‘probably encouraged by the Jesuit scholars who accompanied the mission’. Geography, history, political structure, laws, customs, the Buddhist religion, language, writing, sciences and mathematics of Siam (including a study of La Loubère’s famous magic square). A copy from the library of Count LE GONIDEC DE PENLAN, at the CHATEAU DU TERTRE in Falaise, bearing his ex libris stamp in blue ink. A 19th-century handwritten ex libris pasted onto the first endpaper. Cordier, 722. -ROUSSET de MISSY. Memoirs of the Reign of Catherine, Empress and Sovereign of All Russia. Amsterdam: Pierre Mortier, 1728. In-12, 613 pp., tables, frontispiece portrait, maps, plates and fold-out charts. Contemporary speckled fawn calf, ribbed spine (a few leaves browned, spine slightly faded). First edition. A fine copy. -[CHRISTYN]. The Delights of the Netherlands, or a Geographical and Historical Description of the Seventeen Belgian Provinces. J. F. Bassompierre, the Elder, 1769. 5 volumes in-12. 18th-century binding. Illustrated with frontispieces, fold-out maps and panoramic views of towns and monuments.

Estimate:£334.35

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