One of the first European books on China - read (and download) it for free on Google Books
Zhou Oracle
2:39 PM
Athanasii Kircheri E Soc. Jesu China Monumentis Qva Sacris quà Profanis, Nec non variis Naturae & Artis Spectaculis, Aliarumque rerum memorabilium Argumentis Illustrata
Athanasius Kircher - 1 January 1667
Joannes Janssonius à Waesberge & Elizeus Weyerstraet - Publisher
This book is written in Latin language, which means pretty much no one can read it any more however there are a lot of interesting illustrations in the book.
Another reason for taking a look at the book would be the fact that this was one of the first books published in Europe covering the topic of Chinese civilization (in other words it took Europe two thousand years to notice another important country and culture "just over the hill").
One may say things are not much better even today.
You can find and download this book here.
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