Skip to main content

This auction has ended. View lot details

You may also be interested in

Own a similar item?

Submit your item online for a free auction estimate.

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 image 1
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 image 2
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 image 3
Lot 70

KNOX (ROBERT)
An Historical Relation of the Island of Ceylon, in the East-Indies, FIRST EDITION, 1681

7 – 15 July 2025, 12:00 BST
Online, London, Knightsbridge

Sold for £3,328 inc. premium

Own a similar item?

Submit your item online for a free auction estimate.

How to sell

Looking for a similar item?

Our Travel & Exploration specialists can help you find a similar item at an auction or via a private sale.

Find your local specialist

Ask about this lot

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.

Additional information

Bid now on these items

ADVERTISING POSTERfor 'The Suffragette' newspaper, [c.1913-1914]

ARCHITECTURE - STUART (JAMES) AND NICHOLAS REVETT The Antiquities of Athens, 4 vol. bound in 2, 1825-1830

ILLUMINATED ADDRESS – CLARA CODD Illuminated printed address signed by Emmeline Pankhurst, [1909]

ARMENIAN - HISTORY, THEOLOGY AND PRINTING. Group of books/a map in Armenian, c.1825-1901 (12)

MUSIC & RECORDINGS – ETHEL SMYTH Collection of printed music, song sheets and records, [c.1911-1912]

BANK NOTES - MANUFACTURING BRADBURY (HENRY) On the Security and Manufacture of Bank Notes, FIRST EDITION, Bradbury and Evans, 1856