van Braam Houckgeest, Andreas Everardus

Voyage de l’ambassade de la Compagnie des Indes Orientales Hollandaises, vers l’empereur de la Chine, en 1794 et 1795; Où se trouve la description de plusieurs parties de cet Empire inconnues aux Européens; Tiré du Journal d’André Everard Van-Braam Houckgeest, Chef de la Direction de cette Compagnie, et Second dans l’Ambassade. Publié par M. L. E. Moreau de Saint-Méry. Tome premier [-second]

Two volumes. Paris: Garnery; Strasbourg: Levrault, 1798.

Octavo (7 5/8” x 4 ¾”, 194mm x 121mm).
Vol. I: π² a–b⁸ A–Y⁸ [$4 signed]. 194 leaves, pp. [4] (half-title, to the reader, title, blank) i–iii (2pp. dedication to George Washington, advertisement) iv–xiv (11pp. advertisement) xv xvi–xxii (8pp. foreword) xxiii xxiv–xxxii (10pp. voyage timeline) 1 2–351 [1] (blank).
Vol. II: π² A–R⁸ S⁸(–S8) [$4 signed]. 145 leaves, pp. [4] (half-title, blank, title, blank) 1 2–286.

Bound in contemporary sprinkled calf. On the spine, 6 panels. “voyag / de / braam” gilt to red morocco in the second panel. Number gilt to green sheep in the fourth. “gaudreau re / u relieur” gilt to the heel of vol. I. and “[g]audreau / relieur” gilt to the heel of vol. II. With pink silk marking ribbons.

Corners bumped, with wear and a larger loss to the upper fore-corner of the rear board of vol. II. Headpiece to vol. I strengthened. Transverse cut to the spines of both volumes. “Lii” inked in an old hand to the top corner of the rear pastedown of vol. I. In vol. II, paper flaw to the lower edge of H2 and to the lower fore-corner of H4 (neither affecting the text). S8 present only in a crude stub. 


Andreas Everardus van Braam Houckgeest (1739–1801) was a Dutch-American merchant, diplomat, and writer. Born in the Netherlands, he emigrated to Charleston, South Carolina in the 1780’s and later naturalized as a U.S. citizen. His involvement with the Dutch East India Company (Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie, or V.O.C.) led him to participate in a diplomatic mission to strengthen trade relations between the Netherlands and China in the closing years of the XVIIIc. Van Braam was part of the 1794–1795 delegation — lead by Isaac Titsingh — sent by the V.O.C. to the court of the Qianlong Emperor in Beijing. Notably, van Braam was the only member of the delegation to publish an extensive account of the journey. This Paris-Brussels issue is the unauthorized edition of the first printing (Philadelphia, 1797–1798), which differs in format and contains 14 plates. The work was later translated into English, German, and Dutch.

Braam offers a unique perspective on courtly life in Qing China, including descriptions of the rituals and protocols of the court, and an explanation of the controversial kowtow (an act of deep prostration performed before the emperor). Van Braam executed the imperial kowtow while holding American citizenship, causing a stir among westerners, but the act was undoubtably beneficial for diplomatic relations. A year prior, Lord Macartney’s British embassy had refused to perform the kowtow during their 1793 mission, choosing only to descend on one knee; the Qing state denied all British requests to increase trade and expand political association. Van Braam’s account stands as a vital source for understanding Sino–European relations during the Qianlong era, and, as it predates the Opium Wars (1839–1842), Voyage en Chine captures and preserves a vision of Qing China as a world power revered by the West.

Médéric Louis Élie Moreau de Saint-Méry (1750–1819) was a French colonial administrator, historian, and writer. Born in Martinique, Saint-Méry penned ethnographic and historical works on the French Caribbean. Saint-Méry was exiled during the French Revolution due to his royalist sympathies (for which Garnery and Levrault are perhaps chiding him, as this edition included the modern date of “An 6 de la République”) and fled to the United States in 1793. He settled in Philadelphia and transformed himself into a prominent figure in the city’s French émigré community. On Walnut Street, he established a bookstore and printing business, which became a cultural hub for Francophone intellectuals, political refugees, and curious Americans. Both Saint-Méry and van Braam were elected members of the American Philosophical Society.

François Gaudreau was bestowed the title of master bookbinder in 1756 and later became Marie Antoinette’s personal binder. Earnest Thoinan (pseud. of Antoine Ernest Roquet) wrote of Gaudreau in his 1893 Relieurs Français (1500-1800) that “in 1772, he was appointed bookbinder to Madame la Dauphine, and following the death of Louis XV, he titled himself bookbinder to the Queen…and to Madame la Comtesse d’Artois [Maria Theresa of Savoy]. He also stamped his name and title in gold…on the spine and foot.” 

Landwehr, VOC 548.

Catalogued by G.R. Murdock.

Item #GRM0022

Price: $3,800