A Week in Siam January 1867 [antikvár]

the marquis of beauvoir was in exile inEngland during the Second Empire, along with otherdescendants of the deposed Orléanistes. Being unable,as he says, to exercise their intelligence and activity intheir own country, some sought to do both in foreignparts. Accompanying the Duke of Penthievre, the sonof the Prince of Joinville, de Beauvoir set sail on athree-masted ship from London on 9 April 1866,whither he returned two years later, in September1868. The young count, who was only twenty whenhe began his journey, says that each evening "afterthe fatigues of the day, i threw down my notes onpaper." On his return, he spent some time polishingthem up, and the preface to the book of his travels isdated December 1868.The account was published in three parts: thevoyage to and around Australia; the section on Java,Siam and Canton; and that on Peking, Yeddo (Tokyo)and San Francisco. The first edition of Java-Siam-Canton appeared in French in 1869. The completeedition with all three parts was published in Frenchin 1873 and brought out by Plon, with a number ofhandsome engravings. The French version went throughseveral editions (it had reached its eleventh by 1878)and was 'crowned by the French Academy'. It alsoearned the praise of elder statesmen seeking to extendFrance's overseas interests.