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Lot 87

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, Richard Chiswell, 1681

3 December 2014, 14:00 GMT
London, Knightsbridge

Sold for £2,000 inc. premium

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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 (short tear), advertisement leaf at end, without the portrait (as usual), pencil annotations throughout, contemporary calf, worn, upper cover and opening three leaves detached [Wing K742], folio (310 x 195mm.), Richard Chiswell, 1681

Footnotes

Whilst trading along the Coromandel coast Robert Knox (1641-1720) was forced to land at Kottiar Bay, Ceylon, whereupon he was held captive for the next nineteen years, eventually escaping in 1679. The Historical Relation of the Island of Ceylon was written on the 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: Martha Pitt, ownership inscription dated 1 January 1701.

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