China - Lot 464

China BORGET (Auguste) - [CICÉRI (Eugène)] China and the Chinese. Paris, Goupil and Vibert, 1842 In folio: 5f. (including faux-titre title and engraved title), 26pp. (text composed of fragments of letters; part of the text browned), and 25 plates containing 34 figures (including title page) lithographed in two tones by Eugène CICÉRI. Small light ring in margin of last 8 plates, slight paper browning on some plates. Set in protective covers. Contemporary ½ brown chagrin, gilt title and fillets on smooth spine, plum percaline boards, binding weakness. Borget, a close friend of Honoré de Balzac, circumnavigated the globe in 1836, crossing South America and Hawaii before reaching the Chinese coast in August 1838. The trip took Dorget to Hong Kong, Macau and Canton; on the way back, he visited Manila, then sailed for India via Singapore and the Straits of Malacca, making a detour to Calcutta, where he gave an apocalyptic description of the fakirs. La Chine et les Chinois is an account of Auguste Borget's travels, written by Honoré de Balzac in 1842 and published as four articles in La Législature, the political, commercial, industrial and literary journal of both chambers, between July and October 1842. The notes, drawings and paintings brought back from these trips illustrate, in particular, La Chine et les Chinois; these views of Hong Kong, Macao and Canton depict landscapes and scenes of Chinese life, and are an early and important record of life in this part of Asia in the 1830s-1840s. Superb lithographs by Eugène Cicéri, printed by Lemercier. List of plates: 1/ title page (junk on the water) - 2/ Old Temple and Chinese Fort, Namo Island - 3/ Interior of a fort, Namo Island - 4/ Bamboo Aqueduct, Hong Kong Island - 5/ Hong Kong Bay and Island - 6/ Village Square; Hong Kong Bay - 7/ Boat Dwellings ; Cow-Loon Bay - 8/ Inner view of the Grand Temple in Macau - 9/ Tomb and village between Hong Kong and Cow-Loon bays - 10/ Facade of the Grand Temple in Macau - 11/ Chapel of the Grand Temple in Macau - 12/ General view of Macau - 13/ Macau from the open sea - 14/ Poor People's dwellings ; inland port of Macao - 15/ Portuguese Church and Chinese street in Macao - 16/ Old Temple near the barrier in Macao - 17/ Chinese camp and wall separating the island from the Macao peninsula - 18/ Hong-Shang - 19/ Chinese passage boat between Tchy Bay customs & Canton - 20/ Arc de Triomphe on the Nacao canals in Canton - 21/ Mandarin house on the Macao canals in Canton - 22/ Pagoda on the inland canals of Macao in Canton - 23/ Temple, pagoda et village sur les canaux de l'intérieur de Macao à Canton - 24/ European factories in Canton - 25/ Buddha temple, Honan suburb in Canton - 26/ Interior of Buddha temple - 27/ Small square in Canton suburbs - 28/ French folly - 29/ Salt merchant's dwelling on Honan canal in Canton - 30/ Temple and Honan canal - 31/ Bridge near Canton - 32/ Trading junk and mountains behind Canton - 33/ Village near Canton.