The Private Correspondence of Isaac Titsingh Vol.II (1779-1812) (Hardcover)

Although educated in medicine and law, Isaac Titsingh (1745-1812) decided to enter the VOC as Junior Merchant. From 1779 to 1785 he was Director of the VOC in Japan, where he was detached to the island of Deshima. In 1785, he went to Calcutta, also as VOC Director, where he stayed until 1792. He subsequently assumed the positions of Councillor Extraordinary in Batavia and Ambassador to the Imperial Court in Peking from 1974-95. Titsingh owned the first extensive Japanological collection in Europe, and wrote a tri-lingual series of studies on Japan, as such becoming the first Dutch Japanologist. This publication on Titsingh in two volumes is in Dutch with an English introduction. Volume II contains 85 letters and covers the years 1779-1812. These letters were mainly written by Isaac Titsingh; 38 letters are addressed to Japanese correspondents, six are written by Japanese correspondents.