Douane de Manille [Manila Customs]

Description

lithograph. EXTREMELY RARE

Splendid view of the Manila Customs House, from ‘Voyage autour du monde exécuté pendant les années 1836/1837 sur la Corvette La Bonite’; pl. 51;
This is the rarest of all Philippine plates from this voyage as it is often soiled or missing.

Auguste Nicholas Vaillant (1793-1858) was a French sailor who rose through the ranks to rear-admiral and was entrusted with this voyage in 1836.
It was mainly a political expedition to build trade relations through the Pacific to South America, Hawaii, China, the Philippines, and Calcutta. He was also tasked with making hydrographic and geographic observations when possible, as well as gathering natural history specimens. On this expedition Vaillant employed naturalists Joseph Eydoux and François Souleyet, and watercolour artists Barthélémy Lauvergne and Théodore-Auguste Fisquet. “The principal aims of the voyage were political; to show the French flag in various areas in the Pacific, including the Hawaiian Islands, China, and Cochin China; to extend protection to a number of French subjects; and to draw up comprehensive reports on the countries visited, including Brazil, Chile, the Marianas, and the Philippines” (Hill).