Catrou/Manucci - Histoire générale de l’empire du Mogol - 1705

CATROU, FATHER FRANCIS (S.J.) AND MANUCCI, NICCOLÒ. — GENERAL HISTORY OF THE MOGOL EMPIRE SINCE ITS FOUNDATION (PARIS, JEAN DE NULLY, 1705, 2 COMPLETE VOLUMES WITH A LARGE FOLD-OUT MAP). Paris: Jean de Nully, 1705. 2 volumes in-12. Contemporary full calf, spine with raised bands ornamented. Precious original complete edition in two volumes, published in Paris by Jean de Nully under the King’s privilege in 1705. A true historical and geographical survey of South Asia under the Mughal dynasty, this work relies on the secret memoirs of Niccolò Manucci. Having come from Venice at a very young age, Manucci became one of the few Europeans admitted to the heart of the Mughal imperial court. His direct testimony on Aurangzeb’s reign, territorial conquests, the splendor of the palaces of Delhi and Agra, and the political organization of the Empire was revised and published in France by Father Catrou. The copy is enriched by the large fold-out map engraved by Pierre Ganière, remarkable for the precision of its topography (from the borders of Persia and Tartary to the kingdoms of Golconda and the Pegue). Copy preserved in its original early 18th-century bindings in full brown marbled calf. Spine with raised bands ornamented by lozenges and gilt compartments clearly readable. The bindings show significant wear and pronounced cuir shouldering losses at the heads of both bindings (the upper cover of volume I torn with leather loss on the upper compartment) and a substantial tear/leather loss at the head of volume II exposing the head block and the original cover. Usual rubbing at the corners and on the surface of the boards, but the overall structure remains solid. Very healthy interior, clean and with a pleasant freshness on laid paper. The large fold-out map by P. Ganière (1705) is preserved in good condition, well printed, with original clean folds and no major tears. The history of Manucci’s memoirs is a genuine spy novel: jealous of his manuscript written in Portuguese, the Italian physician sought for years to publish it in Europe. It was the Jesuit François Catrou who used a clandestine copy to offer Louis XIV’s readers the first complete panorama of the Mughal Empire!"}

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