Remarkable journal of the voyage of the Archimède steamer, written during a diplomatic mission of the Kingdom of France to Qing-China (1844-1846) led by diplomat Théodose de Lagrené (1800-1862). It was undertaken with the goal to be given the same privileges as the British in the Treaty of Nanking. The mission was a success and the French signed their own treaty with China, the Treaty of Whampoa, aboard the Archimède on 24 October 1844, which resulted in the opening of five Chinese ports for French merchants. However, the mission was not yet finished, as the delegation had also been tasked to study the local industries and the potential of selling French goods to the East Asian market, which led them to explore much of Indonesia as well as Calcutta in 1846. The present journal discusses this second, lesser-known part of the expedition.
The first volume covers the voyage from Macao to Singapore and Penang, then on to Calcutta in January and February 1846. It opens with several specifications of the ship, including loading and machinery, and then describes its voyage in Indonesia, mentioning a bay in the Anambas archipelago named after François-Edmond Pâris (1806-1893), captain of the Archimède, who had mapped part of the archipelago as an ensign aboard the corvette La Favorite in 1830: "Dans la matinée du 19 depuis 5h 30' jusqu'à midi on fait des routes diverses pour entrer et sortir de l'archipel des Anambas que le commandant a la complaisance de nous faire visiter. En 1830 enseigne de Vaisseau sur la corvette La Favorite il a dressé la carte d'une partie de cet archipel en il nous mène jusqu'au fond de la bai nommé d'après lui Pâris" (p. 4).
The account of Calcutta evinces a great fascination with the place, as the writer clearly admires its transformation from a small village to a centre of commerce and the capital of an Empire: "Quant à la ville de Calcutta elle même, la ville des Palais, City of Palaces, il me serait difficile d'exprimer convenablement l'antipathie, l'aversion qu'elle m'a inspiré. Certes il est difficile de ne pas admirer l'étonnante fortune de cette place qui n'était pas plus qu'un pauvre village il y a un siècle et qu'est aujourd'hui l'une des grandes places de commerce du monde & et la capitale d'un grand Empire" (p. 55). The description of Calcutta includes a bird's-eye pencil sketch of the Raj Bhavan, today the residence of the governor of West Bengal, deeming it "completely lacking in style" (p. 58, transl.).
The second volume comprises notes on Hindu-Chinese countries, Cochinchina (Vietnam) and Siam (Thailand) drawn from local periodicals, namely the Singapore Chronicle and the Calcutta Journal. A separate list gives the composition of the population of Bangkok in 1828, indicating that the 800 Christians living there were mostly descendants from the Portuguese.
The binding is somewhat rubbed, the corners of the boards are bumped and scuffed. Otherwise in very good condition. Barron, "La corvette à vapeur l'Archimède au bout du monde, allegro ma non troppo", in: Chronique d'histoire maritime (Commission française d'histoire maritime; Société française d'histoire maritime, 2016), pp. 67-83.