GOUDAR, Ange.

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The Chinese Spy; or, Emissary from the Court of Pekin, Commissioned to Examine into the Present State of Europe. First edition in English, the second overall, of this fictional satire of European life presented in the form of hundreds of letters written between imaginary Chinese diplomats and officials. The work was first published the same year in French as L'Espion Chinois, ou l'Envoyé Secret de la Cour de Pékin. Copies of this translation are scarce in commerce in a contemporary binding.The diplomats ventriloquize Ange Goudar's humorous and scathing opinions of his contemporaries in France and other countries. "Everything is sold at Paris, compliments excepted, and these are given away profusely: they have a form of silly affected words, which every one has by heart, and distributes them to every comer, without distinction of age or sex... The coldness of the French in this respect borders on phlegm. I know nothing more insupportable to a sincere and frank foreigner, than to live among people, openly professing an affected politeness, and ever on the ceremonial strain, which is no other thing than a perpetual life. In this respect I would prefer a downright clownishness" (vol. I, p. 147).The author's friend, Giacomo Casanova, contributed several letters to this satire. It is also noted by historians of diplomacy for the first appearance in English of the term "diplomatic body" (vol. VI, p. 198) to refer to the group of diplomatic staff stationed in a particular country.Pro

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