China.- [Shao Yuanping.] Gaubil (Antoine, translator) Histoire de Gentchiscan et de toute la dinastie des Mongous, ses successeurs, conquérans de la Chine, translated by Antoine Gaubil, first edition, half-title, woodcut title ornament, fine head-piece and initials, 2pp. approbation/privilege at end, contemporary ink signature of Lt. Lee to head of title and armorial bookplate of Harry Lancelot Lee, contemporary calf, spine gilt, rubbed, worn patch to upper cover, spine repaired, [Atabey 480; Cordier BS 2767; Lowendahl 411], 4to, Paris, Briasson & Piget, 1739.

⁂ The first western translation of Shao Yuanping’s History of the Mongol Dynasty by the greatest western sinologist of the eighteenth century. Antoine Gaubil (1689-1759), Jesuit father, eminent mathematician, astronomer and historian, entered the Society of Jesus at the age of fifteen and was sent to China in 1722. Arriving in Canton he immediately began studying Chinese and Manchu, rapidly becoming so proficient in both that he was appointed official interpreter to the Imperial Court. In 1723 he moved to the French residence in Peking where he spent the rest of his life, as Supérieur from 1742 to 1748. A prolific writer and translator, he was considered the most competent astronomer and historian of his generation. With this work Gaubil was particularly concerned to establish an accurate chronology of Chinese dynasties, a subject much disputed in Europe. Rare at auction.

Harry Lancelot Lee Esq. (1759-1821) built Coton Hall in Shropshire in 1800 and was part of the family whose American branch included Robert E. Lee.