What can you do in prison? Write an account of China
12th Jan 2024 - Blog
In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, going to prison, if you had some means, was not necessarily the
Amidst the excitement around the publication of accounts of the Macartney embassy to China in the 1790s, another book appeared recording a voyage to Canton, along with commentaries on both Macartney’s and the contemporaneous Dutch embassy of Titsingh and van Braam. Joseph-François Charpentier de Cossigny, born in the Isle de France (now Mauritius) spent almost two years sailing to Canton from France and back, recording his observations, dislike of the British, and with a keen eye for agriculture and crops. Over the years he was responsible for bringing back litchis and other fruit species from China and South East Asia, testing them in his own botanical garden, along with sugar cane and other commercial crops. Cossigny’s account seems never to have been translated into English, and its worth reading. There is much about tea, a swimming cat, the lack of love in Chinese society, and much more. You can read about it in the attached article, along with a rough translation, in a separate piece.
12th Jan 2024 - Blog
In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, going to prison, if you had some means, was not necessarily the
28th Jan 2023 - Blog
More writing on early New Zealand Books has been posted (read more). This time the period covered is 1843 to