first edition lxxx,437; xii,520pp. Three folding maps and eight (of 12; see note) engraved plates. 2 vols. 4to
1798 · Philadelphia
by Braam Houckgeest, Andreas Everard von
Philadelphia: Moreau de St. Mery, 1798. First edition. lxxx,437; xii,520pp. Three folding maps and eight (of 12; see note) engraved plates. 2 vols. 4to. Contemporary tree calf, rebacked. Provenance: Harriet Beauclerk, Duchess of St. Albans (armorial bookplate); Michael Zinman (booklabel). First edition. lxxx,437; xii,520pp. Three folding maps and eight (of 12; see note) engraved plates. 2 vols. 4to. Andre Everard van Braam Houckgeest embarked on his first journey to China under the auspices of the Dutch East India Company (VOC) in the mid 18th century. Following the American Revolution, he came to the United States as the Dutch consul to South Carolina and Georgia; settling near Charleston, he became an American citizen in 1784. In 1794, still a represenative of the VOC, he joined Dutch Ambassador Isaac Titsingh on his embassy to the Qianlong Emperor, making him the first American to meet a Chinese Emperor. The mission aimed to assert Dutch interests in competition with the failed British embassy led by Earl of Macartney and was the final Western diplomatic mission to China until the late 19th century following the Opium Wars. Braam Houckgeest’s firsthand account of the expedition offers a vivid portrayal of the embassy's arduous journey from Canton to Peking, traversing uncharted regions of inland China, their experiences during New Year celebrations and reception at the Forbidden City and Yuanmingyuan and important early descriptions of Chinese customs, agriculture, etc. His account of the embassy is of particular value for the detailed descriptions of many parts of China which had never before been visited by Europeans.
Braam Houckgeest returned to Philadelphia in April 1796 aboard the ship Lady Louise, accompagnied by five Chinese individuals, along with a cargo of Chinese export goods. Of particular note, however, was the large collection of Chinese art and decorative art he brought with him, marking the first such collection in America. Settling just outside Philadelphia, he commenced work on the manuscript of his narrative and the decoration of China Retreat, his Chinoiserie estate. By December 1796, Braam Houckgeest had completed the manuscript and engaged noted Philadelphia bookseller and printer M. L. E. Moreau de Saint-Mery for the work's translation from Dutch to French, as well as its publication. Moreau de Saint-Mery, a French Creole who had sought refuge in Philadelphia in 1794, had established a prominent bookshop and press that attracted French expatriates.
The work, dedicated to George Washington, was announced for sale in July 1797, priced $4 for subscribers and $5 for non-subscribers. Some 500 copies of the first volume of the work was exported to London soon after publication, but the ship was captured by a French privateer and those copies lost. However a copy from the seized ship was used for a piracy of the first volume, published in Paris in 1798. This was subsequently translated into English and published in London the same year. Both of those piracies, however, constitutute the first volume only. The 2-volume, first edition of Braam Houckgeest's work published in Philadelphia remains a rarity, described by Aldridge as the "first original book about the Far East published in the Western Hemisphere."
The first edition of the work includes American-engraved plates and maps, including two folding maps detailing the Embassy's route and a plan of Macao. Though the work mentions a plan of Peking, it was never published. The work includes an explanation of the Chinese game of chess, with a board and several pieces pictured on a plate in the second volume; and a paraphrase of Chon-fon-kau, possibly only the third work of Chinese theatre in a European language. The work is almost never found with the full complement of twelve plates, as described by Landwehr; it has been suggested that as different engravers were used for different plates that the staggered availability of the engravings may explain the variety in collations among extant copies. The present copy has eight plates, lacking Landwehr numbers 3, 7, 11 and 14. This copy collates as per the examples in the Library of Congress, John Carter Brown Library and the New York Public Library. Cordier Sinica 2350; Landwehr 547; Lust 504 Sabin 33133. See Alfred Owen Aldridge, The Dragon and the Eagle: The Presence of China in the American Enlightenment (Wayne State: 1993) (Inventory #: 368901)
Braam Houckgeest returned to Philadelphia in April 1796 aboard the ship Lady Louise, accompagnied by five Chinese individuals, along with a cargo of Chinese export goods. Of particular note, however, was the large collection of Chinese art and decorative art he brought with him, marking the first such collection in America. Settling just outside Philadelphia, he commenced work on the manuscript of his narrative and the decoration of China Retreat, his Chinoiserie estate. By December 1796, Braam Houckgeest had completed the manuscript and engaged noted Philadelphia bookseller and printer M. L. E. Moreau de Saint-Mery for the work's translation from Dutch to French, as well as its publication. Moreau de Saint-Mery, a French Creole who had sought refuge in Philadelphia in 1794, had established a prominent bookshop and press that attracted French expatriates.
The work, dedicated to George Washington, was announced for sale in July 1797, priced $4 for subscribers and $5 for non-subscribers. Some 500 copies of the first volume of the work was exported to London soon after publication, but the ship was captured by a French privateer and those copies lost. However a copy from the seized ship was used for a piracy of the first volume, published in Paris in 1798. This was subsequently translated into English and published in London the same year. Both of those piracies, however, constitutute the first volume only. The 2-volume, first edition of Braam Houckgeest's work published in Philadelphia remains a rarity, described by Aldridge as the "first original book about the Far East published in the Western Hemisphere."
The first edition of the work includes American-engraved plates and maps, including two folding maps detailing the Embassy's route and a plan of Macao. Though the work mentions a plan of Peking, it was never published. The work includes an explanation of the Chinese game of chess, with a board and several pieces pictured on a plate in the second volume; and a paraphrase of Chon-fon-kau, possibly only the third work of Chinese theatre in a European language. The work is almost never found with the full complement of twelve plates, as described by Landwehr; it has been suggested that as different engravers were used for different plates that the staggered availability of the engravings may explain the variety in collations among extant copies. The present copy has eight plates, lacking Landwehr numbers 3, 7, 11 and 14. This copy collates as per the examples in the Library of Congress, John Carter Brown Library and the New York Public Library. Cordier Sinica 2350; Landwehr 547; Lust 504 Sabin 33133. See Alfred Owen Aldridge, The Dragon and the Eagle: The Presence of China in the American Enlightenment (Wayne State: 1993) (Inventory #: 368901)
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