Original speckled leather binding with raised banding, gilt decoration and title on the spine.

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This is a rare but more importantly a highly readable book. A book which would fetch over £250.00 had it been in English. The leathers to this volume are in fair condition; the interior in good condition.

Jean-Joseph Espilly, Polychrography in Six Parts, Joseph Payen, 1756. Format: 19 x 12 inches. Pages: 597. The first part deals with astronomy. It provides general notions of the sphere, with very interesting tables for determining the time of sunrise and sunset in the principal locations of the four parts of the earth, and for knowing the time in the major cities of the world when it is noon in Paris. II. It includes a treatise on geography according to a new method. It describes the characteristics of all the countries of the world, and the traits of the nations that inhabit them. It names the capital cities, and traces in detail the routes leading to them from Paris: if these are sea routes, the prevailing winds are indicated. III. It elaborates on hydrography. It describes the rivers and streams of other parts of the world, and names the most famous seaports, along with isthmuses, straits, etc. Part IV deals with ecclesiastical history. It mentions almost all the bishoprics of Christendom. All the heresies that have arisen since the birth of Christianity are carefully presented. The most celebrated ecclesiastical authors and writers are named, and the principal events that have concerned the Church are recounted. Part V describes Roman history, etc. It also discusses the illustrious men of Antiquity, the Seven Sages of Greece, and the Sibyls. It then provides a general overview of the various treaties of alliance, peace, commerce, and navigation concluded between the powers of Europe from the Treaties of Westphalia in 1648 to that of Aix-la-Chapelle in 1748, etc. VI. Includes a chronology of popes, emperors, kings, electors, and other sovereign princes.