Verhandelingen over den Oost-Indischen Handel.
Amsterdam 1801
First edition pp.189. A very good copy in original paper wrappers, a little frayed at edges.
The first of three volumes on trade in the Netherlands East Indies by the prominent liberal advocate of free trade who later became Chief Minister of William I. Gysbert Karel was brother of the Dutch East India Company servant Dirk van Hogendorp who came into conflict with the Company in 1783 when he advocated free trade and the breaking of the VOC monopoly. Dirk corresponded with his brother on economic policy until he was obliged to flee Java in 1795. In this book Gysbert formulates his thoughts on the future of the East Indies, essentially a reworking of his brother's ideas and a reaction to van der Oudermeulen's Memorandum of 1785 and the Staats-Commission Report of 1791. He analyses the advantages and drawbacks of the government and the VOC, comments on current developments and trade statistics, and offers a comparison with British colonial possessions. Van Hogendorp later became a leader in the Dutch resistance to Napoleon; his brother Dirk, an ardent admirer of the French Emperor, went on to become ambassador to Russia.