INDOCHINA - HEIDERICH (G.) Autograph manuscript signed in se - Lot 29

INDOCHINA - HEIDERICH (G.) Autograph manuscript signed in several places. 1894-1895. Saïgon, 1894-1895. - Manuscript in-4, 210 x 170 : 456 pp. Demi-chagrin grenat à coins, cold-stamped fillets, spine ribbed and decorated, gilt head, untrimmed (period binding). Very important and interesting unpublished autograph manuscript, containing the Indochina memories of G. Heiderich, infantry soldier. Heiderich, a marine infantryman at the end of the 19th century. Sent to serve in the Orient in May 1894, Private Heiderich arrived in Saigon the following month, where he was admitted to hospital after falling ill in September. He remained in hospital until January 1895, and took advantage of this period of enforced inactivity to write the present text, intended for friends and family. It is a composite work: the first two parts are based on direct observation, one in the form of a narrative, the other in the form of a descriptive table, while the third part is a compilation based on various readings, mainly Jean Moura's Le Royaume de Cambodge (1883) and Louis Louvet's La Cochinchine religieuse (1885). The work is divided into three distinct parts: - "A crossing from Toulon to Saigon on the 'Colombo'" (chapters 1-28), begun on September 21, 1894: A detailed account of his 32-day voyage, punctuated by anecdotes about his comrades and evocative descriptions (such as that of Riou Island in the Strait of Malacca). He also describes his discovery of exotic flavors (bananas, coconuts) and his impressions of the ports of call (Oran, Port-Saïd, Obock, Singapore). - "Saïgon, ville capitale de la Cochinchine française" (chapters 29-35), begun on December 6, 1894: Methodical description of the city: the port, the arsenal, the main streets, the hospital, the prison, the Governor General's palace, and even the brothels on rue Borèse. He slips in anecdotes about the local fauna and monetary customs, and mentions having seen rickshaws at the 1889 Universal Exhibition. - "Cochinchine and Cambodia. Tonkin. Siam. Annam" (chapters 36-101). Most extensive part begun December 7, 1894 and completed January 11, 1895: Compilation of documentation on peoples (Annamites, Khmers, Malays, Chams, etc.), agricultural crops (trom, kong, pheu-chuc), wildlife (elephants, tigers, monkeys), customs (costumes, tattoos, opium, marriages, religions), colonial administration, and history. The appendices (chapters 102-112) include texts of colonial treaties, indications on the Maignen filter (for sterilizing water, with 2 original drawings), and onomastical or historical questions. Although marked by the vibrant nationalism and racial prejudices typical of his time, Heiderich condemns torture (such as beatings with the "cadouille", a rattan rod) and expresses an acute awareness of colonial injustices, evoking "their violated soil and their lost freedom". His personal experience of the loss of Alsace-Lorraine undoubtedly awakened his sensitivity to the condition of colonized peoples. In short, this is both a personal and documentary account, blending ethnographic curiosity, travelogue and critical reflection on colonization, tinged with an ambivalence revealing his era. Two stamps from the period are pasted on the first page. Opposite this first page is a later autograph note to the manuscript: "En souvenir du service que mon (sic) rendu MMme Garnier et fils. G. Heiderich. In the center of the second lining must have been embedded a coin or medal, now missing. Usual rubbing. Some foxing.