Canton - China - Lot 483

Canton - China CHARPENTIER de COSSIGNY (Joseph François) Voyage à Canton, capitale de la province de ce nom, à la Chine suivi d'observations sur le Voyage de la Chine, de Lord Macartney et du citoyen Van-Braam, et d'une esquisse des arts des Indiens et des Chinois. Paris, André, an VII (1799). In-8, light staining to angular margin at head. Contemporary brown basane, smooth spine with forcé decoration, fawn title-piece, one bit split, triple gilt fillet framing the boards, gilt roulette on the edges, yellow edges. First edition. Particularly rich in botanical descriptions, this work comprises three distinct parts: an account of the author's journey to Canton via Cape Town, Mauritius and Reunion Island; lengthy observations on the accounts of the English and Dutch embassies to China published by Mac Cartney and Van Braam Houckgeest; and finally, a presentation of Indian and Chinese craft and agricultural techniques, including dyeing, opium and varnish manufacture, the cultivation of elastic resin trees, etc. Joseph-François Charpentier de Cossigny (1730-1809), an engineer with a passion for exotic flora, introduced sugar cane from Batavia and the varnish tree from China to Mauritius.