The Journey And The Journal

The Journey And The Journal

Van Braam and his party，known to consist of at least one other representative of the East India Company and several servants，left Canton on November 22，1794，and reached their destination on January 9，1795.The schedule was hectic，with the envoys covering some two thousand miles in fifty days.They had to squeeze themselves into small carts and hurry in order to reach the capital before the New Year Ceremony.For more than eighteen days they had to travel over sixty miles daily.They made their way mainly by land because the water level of rivers and canals and the strong winds were not favorable for water travel in winter.The journey was uncomfortable，and supplies did not always reach them on time.Sometimes the situation was so“indescribably bad”that they“even had no wine at dinners.”[5]

But by traveling overland van Braam was able to see more of China.From December 10 on，he enriched his diary with observations about bridges，pagodas，boats，wheelbarrows，and carts with sails.He even had the opportunity to acquire various articles and bring them back to the United States.Some of them were used as models for drawings when Moreau de Saint-Méry，an emigre bookseller and publisher，was translating van Braam's manuscript into French for publication.American engravers，such as John Vallance，Samuel Seymour，and A.P.Folie，collaborated in preparing drawings for the publication.

Van Braam's descriptions and discussions of Chinese technological inventions are especially noteworthy because they were not made by a layman or a curious traveler，but by a professional.His service in the navy and his extensive travel made him a keen and open-minded observer.The accuracy and variety of his records are rare compared with those of other contemporary travelers.On the other hand，it is plain that most of the information in van Braam's work was obtained from observation alone.Presumably，he did not know Chinese and thus could not communicate directly with Chinese farmers and officials.

Van Braam wrote his journal in Dutch，and the original is preserved in the Rijksarchief at The Hague.The first published edition，however，was in French.Its title page announced that the book was based on the author's personal experience and contained descriptions“de plusieurs parties de la Chine inconnues aux Européens”（see illustration 1）.Van Braam was described as the former director of the Society of Sciences and Arts of Haarlem in Holland，and of the Philosophical Society of Philadelphia，whose library is still proud to possess one copy of this rare journal.(https://www.daowen.com)

The French-language edition was published in Philadelphia in 1797-1798.It was in two volumes in octavo and contained engravings depicting subjects as diverse as the Chinese court and mule wagons.The publisher was to be found at“the corner of First Street South and Walnut，”in Philadelphia，not far from the dock on the Delaware River where van Braam had concluded his journey from China about a year earlier.The journal was translated into a two-volume English edition，which was based on a private Paris edition of the first volume of the Philadelphia edition.[6]The translation is faithful，but materials other than the journal itself，such as drawings and appendixes，were all omitted，except for a map of the“route of the Dutch Embassy to and from Peking in 1794-5，”engraved by T.Foot.

Judging by the number of published translations that came out within a decade of the French edition，this diary must have been popular in the late 1790s.The copies preserved in Princeton University are gifts to the university from Walter van Braam Roberts，a descendant of A.E.van Braam and a Princeton student of the class of 1915.On the page facing the cover of the original French edition，there are notes in pencil：“Presented to J.E.Baker by the g.g.grandson of the author，...［here there are three groups of letters or signs that I cannot decipher］.E.T.Roberts，London，July 10，1908.”Immediately beneath，two lines，which seem to be a postscript，in the same handwriting read：“This book is paid for by me in London.ETR.”Far below is another“note”：“given back to E.T.R.by J.E.B.before his death.”On the front page of the English translation is a formal dedication：“To Erastus Titus Roberts，this work，written by his ancestor，is now，in commemoration of the one hundredth year of its issue，presented by his friend，J.E.Baker.Oct.3rd.，1898.”