Whether this earliest Jonas Hanway (the reputed first importer of
the Umbrella, of whom more hereafter) was peculiarly sybaritic in his
notions, or whether, like the mammoth of Siberia, he is the one
remaining instance of a former "umbrelliferous" race, must, at least
for the present, remain undecided. The general use of the Parasol in
France and England was adopted, probably from China, about the middle
of the seventeenth century. At that period, pictorial representations
of it are frequently found, some of which exhibit the peculiar broad
and deep canopy belonging to the large Parasol of the Chinese
Government officials, borne by native attendants.

John Evelyn, in his Diary for the 22nd June, 1664, mentions a
collection of rarities shown him by one Thompson, a Catholic priest,
sent by the Jesuits of Japan and China to France. Among the
curiosities were "fans like those our ladies use, but much larger,
and with long handles, strangely carved and filled with Chinese
characters," which is evidently a description of the Parasol.

In the title-page of Evelyn's "Kalendarium Hortense," also published
in the same year, we find a black page represented, bearing a closed
Umbrella or Sunshade. It is again evident that the Parasol was more
an article of curiosity than use at this period, from the fact that
it is mentioned as such in the catalogue of the "_Museum
Tradescantium_, or Collection of Rarities, preserved at South
Lambeth, by London, by John Tradescant."

In Coryat's "Crudities," a very rare and highly interesting work,
published in 1611, about a century and a half prior to the general
introduction of the Umbrella into England, we find the following