170 ROSENGARTEN— MOREAU de SAINT MERY. [April 20, 



printed by the Canadian Archive office and by the Wisconsin His- 

 torical Society and in France. 



His shop at Front and Wahiut was the rendezvous of all the 

 notable French exiles then in Philadelphia, and he entertained them 

 very modestly, — cooking his own simple meals in his rear office, and 

 sharing his good wine with them. He figures in the " Memoirs " of 

 Talleyrand and in the " Travels '" of Rochefoucauld and in the books 

 on the United States by Brissot and Volney and other French writers. 



He translated and published two big quarto volumes on China by 

 Van Braam. who had resided in that country as a member of a 

 Dutch embassy. The book was dedicated to Washington. Van 

 Braam became a merchant in Charleston in 1783 and was naturalized 

 in 1784, then made his voyage to China, returned to Philadelphia in 

 1796, bringing with him several Chinese servants, and a large collec- 

 tion of paintings, drawings, maps and curios, which he exhibited in 

 Philadelphia for several months, then kept in his house near Bristol, 

 " China Hall " on the Delaware. In the appendix to the second 

 volume of his book, there is a detailed account of his collection, 

 filling many pages. He too was elected a member of the Philo- 

 sophical Society in 1797. 



jMoreau de St. Mery printed a catalogue of the contents of his 

 book store, of y2 pages, including many books in English, French, 

 Italian, Spanish, Latin, German, Dutch, maps, music, and advertised 

 " a general business of stationers, booksellers and dealers in engrav- 

 ings, a printing office and book bindery, to fill orders for books from 

 Europe, deal in every kind of business on commission, and will not 

 spare any care in studying to accomplish their enterprise intended 

 to propagate and diffuse knowledge," and at the end of the catalogue 

 of books, etc., offered for sale, " particular goods out of the book- 

 sellers' station, everything belonging to the Fleecy hosiery manu- 

 facture of New York, as foot and ankle socks, goutty mittens and 

 stockings, shirts with and without sleeves, drawers, muff"s, etc., 

 elastic garters and gallices of different sizes." Perhaps his field was 

 too large, and the public not appreciative, for he failed for $5,000, 

 and Philadelphia lost the advantage of such a bookseller, printer and 

 publisher, as well as philosopher, author and translator. 



