As Europeans moved to trade with and colonize much of the globe in the early modern period, China was always a source of fascination. A large number of books, including many travel accounts, were published from the 1600s-1800s on China. But these works, unsurprisingly, remained inaccurate, or downright racist, for centuries. As with other Asian countries, many European depictions took a clichéd view of China and its people (akin to Edward Said's "orientalism").
Gerardi Mercatoris atlas sive cosmographicae meditationes de fabrica mundi et fabricati figura by Gerhard Mercator and Hendrick Hondius
An Embassy from the East-India Company of the United Provinces, to the Grand Tartar Cham: Emperor of China…
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A description of the empire of China and Chinese-Tartary, together with the kingdoms of Korea and Tibet
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Travels of the Jesuits, into various parts of the world
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Two visits to the tea countries of China and the British tea plantations in the Himalaya : with a narrative of adventures, and a full description of the culture of the tea plant, the agriculture, horticulture, and botany of China
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Peking and the Pekingese during the first year of the British embassy at Peking
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The Yangtze valley and beyond : an account of journeys in China, chiefly in the province of Sze Chuan and among the Man-tze of the Somo territory
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