An Authentic Account of the Embassy of the Dutch East-India Company, to the Court of the Emperor of China, in the Years 1974 and 1795/Advertisement Eng
ADVERTISEMENT
OF THE ENGLISH PUBLISHER.
MR. PHILLIPS, who presents to the British Public this interesting Journey of the Dutch Embassy to the Court of the Emperor of China, conceives he is making an acceptable and valuable addition to the existing stock of knowledge relative to an Empire, the great extent, population, and antiquity of which render it an almost exhaustless subject of information and curiosity.
Respecting the views of the Embassy, and the value and originality of the materials of which the work consists, he has nothing to add to the able and perspicuous Preface of the French Editor, nor shall he in any way presume to anticipate the opinion or approbation of the English Reader.
With respect to the Translation, he wilt venture without hesitation to affirm, that it is faithfully performed. It is the work of a Gentleman of approved talents, whom a long residence in France has rendered incapable of the blunders that almost always deform books translated from the French tongue into ours. The advantage of receiving a copy of the original long before any other was imported, enabled him also to execute his task at his leisure, and to finish it with a more than usual degree of accuracy. The Publisher therefore hopes, that when the time shall come of comparing this Translation with any other, it will be found to have a still greater precedency in merit than in the date of its appearance.
The only difference between this Edition and the Original Work consists in the placing of the Glossary in the First instead of the Second Volume. As nearly the whole of the words requiring explanation occur in the First Volume, this arrangement is judged to be more convenient to the Reader, especially to Subscribers to Libraries, and Members of Book Societies, in which the volumes generally circulate separately. This dictionary of terms is indeed one of the most valuable parts of the work, abounding in new and curious observations relative to the policy, the manners, and the language of the Chinese.
Among other exertions to render his Edition worthy of the public patronage, Mr. Phillips has taken much pains to procure a CORRECT CHART OF THE ROUTE; an appendage which the Reader will find to be indispensable, and without which the narrative would be wholly unintelligible. By making this important addition, he conceives that he has considerably encreased the value of the work, and given his Edition an almost exclusive claim to the favour of the Public.
| No. 71, St. Paul's Church Yard, Oct. 20, 1798. |