[CHINA] - ALEXANDER (William). Costumes and views of China [ - Lot 20

[CHINA] - ALEXANDER (William). Costumes and views of China [and Tartary]. Splendid iconography of imperial China, with 54 plates engraved and watercolored at the time. Paris, Nepveu, 1815. 2 volumes in 1 volume In-18 (135 x 84 mm). Bound in well-crafted blond half-calf, spine ribbed with gilt and cold-stamped fillets, with mosaic title-pieces. Contemporary binding. 77pp, 62 pp, 54 plates. Discreet wetness visible on 2/3 of the text pages. First edition and first print run of the 54 engraved and watercolored plates, including 1 fold-out and 17 double-page plates. William Alexander was part of Lord Macartney's English embassy, as painter and draughtsman. In addition to the many costumes presented, the collection also includes views of ships, cities, pagodas, birds, the Great Wall, genre scenes (a group of men eating or playing, the torture of the gangue, a military post, a fishermen's boat, the imperial procession), as well as a plan of a lock and the posts of the Great Wall. Provenance: De Sinety, with heraldic ex-libris azure, a swan argent, the neck within an antique crown. Motto "Virtute Nitet". A choice copy in excellent condition.