‘Tot eeuwige memorie de druckerye-konste’ Simon de Vries’s Discourse on the Chinese Art of Print (1682)

This article explores the ways in which early modern writers and readers related to and reflected on the Chinese invention of print by way of an examination of Simon de Vries’s Curieuse aenmerckingen der bysonderste Oost en West-Indische dingen of 1682. It will consider De Vries in his ternary role of author, compiler and reader, meaning that his account not only displays the economic rules of cultural consumption to which De Vries was bound as author and compiler, but also his own opinions and preferences as reader.
In the guise of writer, editor, and reader De Vries aims to present his potential readership with a thought-out consideration of the wide variety of European sources available on the subject of Chinese print, concentrating on those elements of contention that may speak for or against either Europe or China’s reputation as technological and cultural power. In the end, neither takes pride of place. By arguing for an independent invention of print, De Vries essentially put China on the same level as Europe.