CHINA -- Père Jean-François FOUCQUET (1663-1741, Jesuit missionary). Autograph inventory of his library of Chinese books, inscribed on the first page 'Liste des livres chinois apportés sur le vaisseau nommé Le Prince de conty' and, in a different hand, 'Par le P[ére] Fouquet [sic]', n.p. [Canton or Macau?], n.d. [1722], including 340 numbered entries written by Foucquet, neatly written in French on European paper, approximately 12¼ pages, 8vo; interleaved with a list of the works written in Chinese characters by an amanuensis, on calligraphy paper, each entry numbered at the head in Foucquet's hand, autograph annotations at the foot of each page, five cut figures painted on silk pasted on to first and last leaves; original tiny stitch holes in inner margins, later stitching in yellow silk thread; bound together with an (unrelated) Chinese printed work, 106 pages, 8vo (53 leaves); 18th-century green boards, gilt lettered on spine (Traité de la morale des Tao-Ssu Fouquet Catalog[ue] D[e] L[ivres] Chin[ois]). Provenance: Francis Buckley (early 20th-century bookplate) THE ORIGINAL INVENTORY OF THE FAMOUS LIBRARY OF PèRE FOUCQUET Foucquet brough his library with him from China to France in 1722 and thence to Rome in 1723; this list was apparently intended as a working document required on the voyage and to enable him to compile a full catalogue later. The autograph list in French gives in most cases an abbreviated and transliterated title such as '217 -- L'histoire chinoise, intitulée Tong Kien cang mon' or '216 - Les ouvrages de Li Chi' (or, for European works, a vague note such as 'Livres d'Europe'); the list in Chinese is also imprecise and gives short titles, or in the case of European works merely 'foreign works', but includes in addition the form in which each work occurs, i.e. the number of ben (fascicules), tao (slipcases) or, less frequently, t'se (bound volumes). Thus '114 -- Commentaire étendu du Liao King' comprises '30 ben' and '154 -- Grand ouvrage sur les livres et les Scavans' has '140 ben'. (The form of Chinese printed works was inconsistent, as they were bound and rebound in fascicules or volumes, the number of which might vary greatly between different copies of any one work, and a slipcase might contain up to 10 fascicules.) The entries in the manuscript are in no particular order: they include the canonical works (the Kings) and principal commentaries ('Explication des figures de Lye King', 'Ye King augmenté' and similar titles); dictionaries ('Trésor des Rimes ou grand dictionaires en 95 volumes', 'Le grand dictionnaire appellé Tching Tsu tong'), works on grammar, Chinese characters and vocabulary; literary works ('Sur les Rimes et Tonades de la Poésie', 'Roman ou comedie celebre nommée PiPa', 'Petit Roman intitulé San Tsai Tse') and histories; philosophy; works on rites and ceremonies ('20 volumes du Rituel des min'); arithmetical books; astrology; geography and astronomy ('Modelles ou Types d'Eclypses'). The European works are not individually identified ('Quelques livres Europeens mesles avec les chinois'). A more detailed, categorised inventory of Foucquet's library was evidently prepared after his return to Europe, and copies are extant in the British Library, the Bibliothèque Nationale (two) and the Archives des Affaires Etrangères. The Bibliothèque Nationale also has a briefer inventory (N.A.Fr. 8977, ff.249-265), from the papers of Etienne Fourmont, which is apparently a transcript of the present manuscript. Jean-François Foucquet first went to China in 1699, as an ordinary missionary in the provinces. In 1711 he was summoned to Peking by the K'ang-hsi Emperor, to instruct him in mathematics and astronomy. But Foucquet soon became an increasingly controversial figure: by linking the ancient Chinese religion with Judaeo-Christianity and integrating Confucian traditions into Christian practices he hoped to convince and so to convert the Chinese literati. His extreme interpretation aroused the hostility of his colleagues and of certain Chinese, and in 1719 he asked to be recalled to Rome, taking with him his library in order to continue his research. After much delay he received permission from the papal legate in December 1721, and sailed from Canton on the Prince de Conti in January 1722. His books were packed in eleven crates, distributed between the officers' cabins. A Chinese Christian amanuensis named John Hu was engaged at the last moment to accompany him as a copyist and it is probable that Hu (who knew no French) wrote the Chinese version of the present inventory. The Prince de Conti reached France in August 1722, and after further delay the eleven crates of books reached Paris by way of Nantes and Le Havre. Finally, in April 1723 Foucquet was allowed to leave for Rome with his library which arrived there early in November. Hu, the Chinese amanuensis, refused to accompany him and after numerous vicissitudes returned to China (J.D. Spence. The Story of Hu, 1988). Foucquet was eventually forced to leave the Jesuit Order; his controversial career has led to him being described as 'to some degree a catalyst in the early development of sinology in France' (J.W. Witek. Controversial Ideas in China and in Europe: a biography of Jean-François Foucquet, 1982). Foucquet's Chinese library was said to have been the largest and best chosen assembled by a European, at a time when the Chinese collection in the Bibliothèque Royale in Paris was in its infancy. The assembly of so many works spanning all aspects of Chinese culture was an astonishing achievement. The present manuscript appears to record the entire library including both Chinese and European works and would have provided the basis for a detailed and scholarly catalogue drawn up on Foucquet's arrival in Europe. By the early 19th Century the library was said to have been largely dispersed between various public collections, in France, England and Italy. 'Le catalogue de cette bibliothèque chinoise fait également honneur au goût et au savoir de celui qui avait su en rassembler les materiaux' (Abel Remusat. Nouveaux Materiaux Asiatiques, 1829, vol. ii).