An Authentic Account of the Embassy of the Dutch East-India Company, to the Court of the Emperor of China, in the Years 1794 and 1795

A vivid account of an official visit to the Chinese emperor at the Summer Palace, published in English in 1798.

André Everard van Braam Houckgeest (Author), M. L. E. Moreau de Saint-Méry (Edited and translated by)

9781108029063, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 9 June 2011

332 pages
21.6 x 14 x 1.9 cm, 0.42 kg

First published in French in Philadelphia in 1797 and translated into English for the London edition of 1798 reissued here, this travelogue by André Everard van Braam Houckgeest (1739–1801) was received with enthusiasm by readers hungry for exotic accounts of distant lands. It vividly describes a visit to the Chinese imperial court by a delegation from the Dutch East India Company soon after the British Macartney embassy, and delivers a rare glimpse of an unfamiliar landscape and culture. Fascinated by his experiences, van Braam records that he thought it 'far better to lose a few hours rest, than to let a single remarkable object escape me'. Volume 2 includes one of the last known Western descriptions of the spectacular Summer Palace, destroyed in 1860, and a detailed list of several hundred Chinese paintings and drawings that van Braam brought back and intended to donate to the French nation.

Journey of the embassy of the Dutch East-India Company to the court of the Emperor of China, in the years 1794, and 1795
Notice of a collection of Chinese drawings, in the possession of M. van Braam, author of this work.

Subject Areas: Asian history [HBJF]