CHARPENTIER DE COSSIGNY, Joseph-Francois

Journey to Canton, capital of the province of that name, to China; via Goree, the Cape of Good Hope, and the Isles of France and Reunion. Followed by observations on the voyage to China by Lord Macartney and citizen Van-Braam, and a sketch of the arts of the Indians and the Chinese. Paris, by André, Year VII [1798]. In-8 (197 x 120 mm) of VIII, 607 pp. Rooted calf, decorative gilt border, smooth spine decorated, marbled edges (contemporary binding). Cordier, Sinica, 2105; van Ryckebusch, 1600 ("rare and very interesting relation"); Quérard, II, 140. First edition. A particularly rich work in botanical descriptions, comprising three distinct parts: the account proper of the author's journey to Canton via Cape Town, Mauritius and Reunion (pp. 1-152), long observations on the accounts of the English and Dutch embassies in China published by MacCartney and Van Braam Houckgeest (pp. 153 to 472), and finally a presentation of the craft and agricultural techniques of the Indians and the Chinese not yet mastered by the Europeans, dyeing, the manufacture of opium, varnish, the cultivation of trees with elastic resin, etc. (pp. 472 to 589). A great figure in Mauritian history, Joseph-François Charpentier de Cossigny (1736-1809) was born in Mauritius to a Creole woman and a marshal of camp engineer in the service of the East India Company. Having become an engineer himself, he first served under his father's orders, notably in Pondicherry, before being assigned to Mauritius in 1760 where he was in charge of the development of Port-Louis until the Revolution (apart from a mission to Java in 1761-1762). He acquired the domain of Palma and, passionate about exotic flora, created a botanical garden that became famous. He introduced in the island the sugar cane of Batavia, the varnish tree of China, and the litchi. He was ennobled in 1770, elected deputy to the Constituent Assembly, and was again sent to Mauritius by Bonaparte to announce the advent of the Consulate and to reorganize the powder works. He stayed only one year in his post, because of the hostility of the colonists to his measures to make slaves work for money. A fine copy, spines and corners very skilfully restored.