History of the world, dealing with the Middle East, China and America 1666

Various artists

PaperHandmade paperLeather
Currently unavailable via Gallerease

• About the artwork
  Arca Noae. Sive historia imperiorum ex regnorum à condito orbe ad nostra tempora.
  Leiden & Rotterdam, Petrus Hackius, 1666. 12mo. With engraved title-page by Wingendorp. Contemporary sheepskin parchment.
  
  One of the two first editions published simultaneously of a historical work written by the German historian Georgius Hornius (1620-1670). "In the dusk of his life, he moved to universal history, an endeavor that culminated with his Arca Noae, which comprised the chronicles of Europe, alongside descriptions of the cultures of China, Egypt, Assyria, ancient Greece, Rome, and pre-Columbian America, and surveys of their religion, art and literature" (Kowner). Entitled "Noah's ark", it contains the history of the world from its creation to the 17th century. It successively deals with all the great empires and kingdoms and their important founders and rulers. It contains narratives about the founding of Damascus, the founding of Arab kingdoms by Ishmael and Isaac, the caliphates, and the Turks. Besides sections on the Middle East, the book discusses Chinese and American history, struggling with sources that predate the biblical sources.
  
  With an old shelf mark on spine and a library stamp on flyleaf. Browned with some small spots throughout, engraved title-page slightly thumbed, a water stain on leaf *2 and a small tear in leaf *3, and frequent wormholes, slightly affecting the text near the end of the book. Bookblock only loosely attached to binding. Otherwise a good copy.
  
  Alden & Landis 666/75; R. Kowner, From white to yellow (2014), 9; Sabin 33013.
• About the artist
  More than one artist has worked on this object.