Second Edition: (iv), 651, (i Extrait du Privilege du Roy) pages, full contemporary calf titled and decorated in gilt on the spine, worn at the top and bottom of the spine and the corner with some loss, stain in the gutter of the last forty pages, a good copy.
Choisy, served as a member of the French embassy to Siam in 1685–1686 led by Chevalier de Chaumont He documents the voyage from France to Siam including a visit to the Cape of Good Hope.
The journal provides insights into the diplomatic, cultural, and religious aspects of the mission, as well as observations on the customs and practices encountered in Siam. The journal is considered one of the earliest and most engaging French eyewitness accounts of Siam.
The 1687 second edition was published during a period of renewed interest in Asian travel and colonial history. Choisy spent nine days at the Cape in April 1685. He admired Table Mountain, describing how its flat top dominates the bay and serves as a landmark visible from afar. He also noted the wild animals — particularly antelopes and seabirds — and the beauty of the natural setting, calling it “l’un des plus charmants endroits du monde.” (“one of the most charming places in the world”).
Paris, Sébastien Mabre-Cramoisy, Imprimeur du Roy, 1687
- Size: 12mo (150 x 85 mm)
