Chronology Entry
Year
1699
Text
Careri, Giovanni Francesco Gemelli. Giro del mondo [ID D22656].
Francis Wilson : Careri sounds a particularly self-conscious note in describing Canton as a city with one million inhabitants, 'which to Europeans will sound like a fable', adding 'they may believe what they loke'. Later this predominantly level-headed observer, an Italian lawyer travelling to improve his education, is similarly uneasy about communicating population figures for Nanking (30 million) and China as a whole (300 million). However, when told the Great Canal 'makes that vast Empire navigable from one end to the other', exceeding '1800 miles', the jurist reveals no trace of scepticism in his assessment : 'This was certainly a greater and more wonderful work, than all those antient ones we are told of the Romans, Persians, Assyrians, or other former Monarchies'. Careri's capacity for awe is confirmed by a chapter of promiscously-recorded numerical data, across a range of categories, including such examples of social distinction.
Francis Wilson : Careri sounds a particularly self-conscious note in describing Canton as a city with one million inhabitants, 'which to Europeans will sound like a fable', adding 'they may believe what they loke'. Later this predominantly level-headed observer, an Italian lawyer travelling to improve his education, is similarly uneasy about communicating population figures for Nanking (30 million) and China as a whole (300 million). However, when told the Great Canal 'makes that vast Empire navigable from one end to the other', exceeding '1800 miles', the jurist reveals no trace of scepticism in his assessment : 'This was certainly a greater and more wonderful work, than all those antient ones we are told of the Romans, Persians, Assyrians, or other former Monarchies'. Careri's capacity for awe is confirmed by a chapter of promiscously-recorded numerical data, across a range of categories, including such examples of social distinction.
Mentioned People (1)
Careri, Gemelli
(Taurianova 1651-1725 Neapel) : Reisender, Jurist
Subjects
Travel and Legation Accounts
Documents (1)
| # | Year | Bibliographical Data | Type / Abbreviation | Linked Data |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2007 | Wilson, Francis. The dar side of utopia : misanthropy and the Chinese prelude to Defoe's lunar journey. In : Comparative critical studies ; vol. 4.2 (2007). | Publication / DefD3 |
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