Lot 264
  • 264

Sun Tzu–Amiot, Jean-Joseph Marie, translator

Estimate
4,000 - 6,000 GBP
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Description

  • Art militaire des Chinois, ou recueil d'anciens traités sur la guerre… on y a joint dix préceptes addressés aux troupes par l'Empereur Yong-Tcheng. Paris: Didot l’ainé, 1772
  • paper
4to (252 x 195mm.), half-title, woodcut head- and tailpieces, 33 hand-coloured engraved plates, contemporary marbled sheep, flat spine tooled in gilt with red morocco label, marbled endpapers and edges, minor rubbing to binding

Literature

Cordier, Sinica 1555; Löwendahl 560

Condition

Condition is described in the main body of the cataloguing, where appropriate
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Catalogue Note

AN ATTRACTIVE COPY OF FIRST EUROPEAN EDITION OF SUN TZU’S The Art of War, written around the sixth century BC. A work of wide-ranging influence on both eastern and western culture, it has been accepted as a definitive work on strategy, military or otherwise.

The translator, Jean Joseph Marie Amiot (1718–1793), was a Jesuit missionary in Beijing, who did much to introduce the west to far-eastern life and thought. His introduction of The Art of War to a European readership was ground-breaking. The work would not be fully translated into English until 1910.