Rare and exceptional engraving published in 1783 on religious ceremonies in Japan and the monkey pagoda.

These superb engravings are taken from the famous work Ceremonies and religious customs of all the peoples of the world published in Amsterdam in 1783 and distributed in France by Laporte, bookseller rue des noyers in Paris. The engravings are drawn by Bernard Picard and other artists.

Extraordinary historical and ethnographic document.

• Format of these engravings 41/27 cm slight waterstaining on the margins see photos, good condition for a document that is over 230 years old.

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This monumental work was one of the first glimmers of the Age of Enlightenment; its concept is indeed radical and revolutionary, since it immediately equates all the religions of the world, thus transforming the perception of the religious phenomenon on a lasting basis, not only by comparison, but above all by reducing religion to cultural social behavior , customs linked to a history and a people. From such a book, the sacred is observed as a phenomenon, a characteristic. If all the (admirable) engraved work is by Picart, who relied on numerous books for his representations which he wanted to be as accurate as possible, we too often forget that the work was the fruit of a close collaboration with Bernard, who took charge of the writing.

Complete title: Ceremonies and customs of all the peoples of the world (...) Work which includes the philosophical History of the Religion of the Nations of the two hemispheres; such as those of the Brames, the Peguans, the Chinese, the Japanese, the Thibetins, and that of the different Peoples who inhabit Asia and the Islands of the Indian Archipelago; that of the Mexicans, Peruvians, Brazilians, Greenlanders, Lapps, Caffres, all the peoples of Nigritia, Ethiopia & Monomotapa; that of the Jews, both ancient and modern, that of the Muslims and of the different sects that compose it; finally that of the Christians & of that multitude of branches into which it is subdivided. Followed by Superstitions of all the peoples of the world or a philosophical table of the errors and weaknesses into which Superstitions, both ancient and modern, have precipitated the men of most nations of the earth; work followed by a Precis on the Crazy Mother, on the Bacchanalia & the Orgies, on the satirical spectacle of the Greeks & the Romans, & on the Origin of the Association of Freemasons.