Die Gesantschaften an die Keiser von Japan/ Denckwürdige Gesandtschaften der Ost- Indischen Gesellschaft in den Vereinigten Nl. an unterschiedl…….

  • Translation

Article ID B0098

Title

Die Gesantschaften an die Keiser von Japan/ Denckwürdige Gesandtschaften der Ost- Indischen Gesellschaft in den Vereinigten Nl. an unterschiedl…….

Description

Book describes Japan with its natives, dresses, fortress, cities and landscapes. With many double page, fullpage and 1/2 page views of cities and represetnation of natives and landscape in Japan.

Year

dated 1670

Artist

Meurs, van (1619/20-1680)

Jacob van Meurs (1619-1680) was a well-known Dutch bookseller, engraver and publisher. The vast majority of books published by Meurs date from 1650 to 1680. At the beginning of his career, Van Meurs published some works on the history of Amsterdam and the Republic. Later in his career, van Meurs achieved some important successes in selling books on China, Japan, Africa and America. Previously, he worked with contemporaries such as Johan Nieuhof (1618-1672), Olfert Dapper (1636-1689) and Arnoldus Montanus (1625-1683). Van Meurs is even considered the leading printer of works across the non-European world for the period 1660-1680. Typical for these large, luxurious editions were the beautiful illustrations of unknown peoples and exotic places. In 1665 van Meurs achieved great success in this genre with the publication of Het Gezantschap by the Neêrlandtsche Oost-Indische Compagnie, a geographical work on China. This book referred to the VOC's first legation before the imperial court in Beijing. The author of this book, world traveler Johan Nieuhof (1618-1672), had himself been involved in this mission and had been in Asia for some time when it was published in the Republic. At that time, the book had a major impact on China's European image. This success confirmed that there was sufficient demand for books that dealt extensively with colonies overseas and other distant locations. Van Meurs liked to respond to this public need and decided to continue focusing on this particular genre. In 1667 he published another work on China, China monumentis, this time by the Jesuit Athanasius Kircher (1602-1680). Exactly a year later, in 1668, a precise description of the African countries was published, a work by Olfert Dapper (1636-1689) on Africa. This was the first attempt to summarize all available information about Africa in a single European language. Frontispiece of Gedenkwaerdige Gesantschappen of the East Indian Maatschappy in 't Vereenigde Nederland (1669) by Arnoldus Montanus, published by Jacob van Meurs. In 1669, Van Meurs published a book about Japan in collaboration with Arnoldus Montanus: commemorative Gesantschappen of the East Indian Maatschappy in 't Vereenigde Nederland. In the meantime, Olfert Dapper was working on a second book on China, descriptions of the Emperor of Taising von Sina, published by Van Meurs in 1670.

Historical Description

Asia is Earth's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the Eastern and Northern Hemispheres. The history of Asia can be seen as the distinct histories of several peripheral coastal regions: East Asia, South Asia, Southeast Asia and the Middle East, linked by the interior mass of the Central Asian steppes. The coastal periphery was home to some of the world's earliest known civilizations, each of them developing around fertile river valleys. The civilizations in Mesopotamia, the Indus Valley and the Yellow River shared many similarities. These civilizations may well have exchanged technologies and ideas such as mathematics and the wheel. Other innovations, such as writing, seem to have been developed individually in each area. Cities, states and empires developed in these lowlands. The central steppe region had long been inhabited by horse-mounted nomads who could reach all areas of Asia from the steppes. The earliest postulated expansion out of the steppe is that of the Indo-Europeans, who spread their languages into the Middle East, South Asia, and the borders of China, where the Tocharians resided. The northernmost part of Asia, including much of Siberia, was largely inaccessible to the steppe nomads, owing to the dense forests, climate and tundra. These areas remained very sparsely populated. The center and the peripheries were mostly kept separated by mountains and deserts. The Caucasus and Himalaya mountains and the Karakum and Gobi deserts formed barriers that the steppe horsemen could cross only with difficulty. While the urban city dwellers were more advanced technologically and socially, in many cases they could do little in a military aspect to defend against the mounted hordes of the steppe. However, the lowlands did not have enough open grasslands to support a large horsebound force; for this and other reasons, the nomads who conquered states in China, India, and the Middle East often found themselves adapting to the local, more affluent societies.

Place of Publication Amsterdam
Dimensions (cm)31,5 x 20
ConditionVery good
Coloringblack/white
TechniqueCopper print

Reproduction:

780.00 €

( A reproduction can be ordered individually on request. )