Lot 70•
KNOX (ROBERT) An Historical Relation of the Island of Ceylon, in the East-Indies, FIRST EDITION, 1681
Ending from 15 July 2025, 12:00 BST
Online, London, Knightsbridge£1,500 - £2,500
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KNOX (ROBERT)
An Historical Relation of the Island of Ceylon, in the East-Indies: together with an Account of the Detaining in Captivity of the Author and Divers other Englishmen now Living There, and of the Author's Miraculous Escape, FIRST EDITION, 15 engraved plates, folding engraved map of Ceylon, license leaf before title, advertisement leaf at end, without the portrait (as usual), some browning and spotting, contemporary calf, neatly rebacked preserving original spine [ESTC R16598], folio (314 x 200mm.), Richard Chiswell, 1681
Footnotes
The first major work in English about Sri Lanka. Robert Knox (1641-1720), whilst trading along the Coromandel coast, was forced to land at Kottiar Bay, Ceylon [Sri Lanka], whereupon he was held captive for the next nineteen years, eventually escaping in 1679. His Historical Relation of the Island Ceylon was written on his voyage back to England, where it was published with encouragement of the East India Company, and Robert Hooke of the Royal Society. "The book influenced the work of contemporaries such as Daniel Defoe, who drew from Knox's experiences much of the context for, and the aspirations of, his hero in Robinson Crusoe" (ODNB).
Provenance: ?Sir Littleton Powys FRS (1647-1732), early inscription "Littleton Powys" on title; by family descent with Lilford armorial bookplate and Lilford Library label inside upper cover; Sotheby's, books from Lilford Hall Library, 13 June 1949, lot 147.