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Detailed eye-witness reports of a voyage around the world as it unfolded, 1847-1851

LORGE, Louis Anne Paul de Durfort Civrac, Comte de.
[46 letters].
Chili, Macao, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Batavia, Ceylon, Calcutta, Delhi, etc., 1847-1851. 8vo & 4to. 46 autograph letters, mostly signed, written during a voyage around the world by the Comte de Lorge, to his father, the Duc de Lorge. Loose letters in clear plastic sleeves in a modern notebook.
€ 9,500
Forty-six autograph letters written by the young Comte de Lorge, Paul de Durfort Civrac (1828-1872) during his voyage around the world, 1847-1851, and giving a detailed account of the sights and his adventures, addressed to his father, Emeric Duc de Lorge (1802-1879), in Paris and at the family estate, Chateau de Fondspertuis in Beaugency, near Orléans. He set off with three friends on 21 October 1847 and joined a group of missionaries travelling to the Far East. They crossed the Atlantic and sailed around Cape Horn then up the Pacific coast of South America to Valparaiso (near Santiago), crossing the South Pacific and sailing around the Philippines to reach Macao on 21 June 1848. They then went on to Shanghai, where they explored the Chinese interior. There and in Hong Kong, the group split up and Lorge went on to Batavia (Djakarta) in the East Indies, where he explored the interior of Java and hunted rhinoceros. In the summer of 1849 he went on to Ceylon (Sri Lanka) and in November to Calcutta (Kolkata). After a couple months there he again went inland, exploring the Ganges river valley as far as Murshidabad, then along the foothills of the Himalayas to Agra, Delhi and Kashmir (climbing as high as 12,000 feet, before turning south again and reaching Bombay (Mumbai) in the summer of 1850. Lorge returned home via Alexandria, reaching Marseille in January 1851.
His letters describe his voyage in detail, with accounts of hunting rhinoceros on Java, elephants in Ceylon and India, wild boar, tigers and other animals; his survival of a typhoon. He also describes the topography, European and native settlements, mosques and temples and other sites, and gives accounts of his encounters with other voyagers and officials from Europe's high society, with local rulers and with the general native population. He also relates the most recent political events. These letters, relating the events of the voyage month by month as they unfolded, gives a more intimate view, a more exact chronology and probably a more reliable record of the facts than a memoire written after the fact.
In very good condition.
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Related Subjects:

Asia  >  Cartography & Exploration | China | Indonesia | Southeast Asia
Autographs, documents & manuscripts  >  Autographs & Letters
Cartography & exploration  >  Asia