Lot 169
Sri Lanka.- Knox (Robert) An Historical Relation of the Island Ceylon, in the East-Indies..., first edition, Richard Chiswell, 1681.
Hammer Price: £1,500
Description
Sri Lanka.- Knox (Robert) An Historical Relation of the Island Ceylon, in the East-Indies..., first edition, double-page engraved map (little frayed at edges, trimmed with loss to scale at foot), 15 engraved plates, lacking advertisement f. at end, without the portrait (as usual), licence f. bound after title, I1 & plate at D4v with very small hole, some tears and repairs to text and plates, mostly marginal but occasionally into platemark or image without notable loss (see plates at D4v, F4, M4 & Q2v), trimmed at head occasionally affecting headline, some underlining/passage-marking in later red pencil, some spotting, some soiling and staining, ex-library copy with bookplate, ink-stamp to title and plates, later library cloth, small sticker to spine foot, little rubbed, backstrip peeled away from upper joint, [Wing K742], small folio, Richard Chiswell, 1681.
⁂ The first account of Sri Lanka in English, and one of the sources for Defoe's Robinson Crusoe. While sailing for Persia in 1658, Knox's ship lost its mast in a storm and was forced to put ashore on Ceylon. Knox, along with his elder brother and crew, was captured by King Rajasinha II of Kandy and refused permission to leave the kingdom. Knox and a companion eventually escaped after 19 years of captivity and fled to a Dutch fort in the north of the island.
Description
Sri Lanka.- Knox (Robert) An Historical Relation of the Island Ceylon, in the East-Indies..., first edition, double-page engraved map (little frayed at edges, trimmed with loss to scale at foot), 15 engraved plates, lacking advertisement f. at end, without the portrait (as usual), licence f. bound after title, I1 & plate at D4v with very small hole, some tears and repairs to text and plates, mostly marginal but occasionally into platemark or image without notable loss (see plates at D4v, F4, M4 & Q2v), trimmed at head occasionally affecting headline, some underlining/passage-marking in later red pencil, some spotting, some soiling and staining, ex-library copy with bookplate, ink-stamp to title and plates, later library cloth, small sticker to spine foot, little rubbed, backstrip peeled away from upper joint, [Wing K742], small folio, Richard Chiswell, 1681.
⁂ The first account of Sri Lanka in English, and one of the sources for Defoe's Robinson Crusoe. While sailing for Persia in 1658, Knox's ship lost its mast in a storm and was forced to put ashore on Ceylon. Knox, along with his elder brother and crew, was captured by King Rajasinha II of Kandy and refused permission to leave the kingdom. Knox and a companion eventually escaped after 19 years of captivity and fled to a Dutch fort in the north of the island.