Tibet.- Andrade (Antonio de) Nuevo Descubrimiento del gran Cathayo, ò Reynos de Tibet...en el año de 1624, 12ff., second Spanish edition, drop-head title, woodcut initial, some very light browning and marginal water-staining, final leaf repaired at lower outer corner not affecting text, early 20th century crushed brown morocco with double gilt fillet, spine gilt in compartments, inner gilt dentelles, g.e., joints and edges a little rubbed, [Cordier BS 2899; Palau 12018; Streit V.272], small 4to, Madrid, Luis Sanchez, 1627.

⁂ A handsome copy of the first description of Tibet by a European. Originally published in Lisbon in 1626, first in Portuguese and then in Spanish, this is the first edition in Spanish published in Spain.

Antonio de Andrade (1580-1634), a Portuguese Jesuit, was sent to India in 1600. Four years later, disguised as a Hindu, he joined a caravan of pilgrims travelling to Garhwal and crossed the Himalayan range to the temple of Badrinath. Despite losing his guide and porters Andrade continued in extreme conditions to Tsaparang where he was received by the ruler of Guge. Andrade was the first European to cross the Himalayan range, the first to enter Tibet, and the first to return with a description of the country, its people, and their religion.