Manuscript letter from Abbé Huc to his parents in Toulouse… "...after defying death almost every day for two years , here I am alive in Macao..."

Macao.. 1, November1846.. Closely-written manuscript letter in French, boldy signed by Huc, 4 pages (bifolium), 26.7 x 20.7 cms. folding to 8.5 x 13.3 cms, postmarked Paris and Toulouse, remains of the red wax seal (small hole in the address panel marking its removal, but no loss to the text), small edge tears (without loss), overall in very good condition. Rare and apparently unpublished letter penned by the great missionary and explorer Évariste Huc (1813-1860) to his parents reporting on his just completed epic journey through Tartary and Tibet. Huc, along with his fellow Vincentian missionary Joseph Gabet were the first Europeans to enter Lhasa in the mid-19th Century. In this his first (and lengthy) letter home to France Huc details their arduous passage from Tartary to Lhasa "It is useless to tell you the names of the places since they are not yet on our maps...We were attacked by brigands, we were buried under snow, we were more than once on the brink of death from starvation, and we were daily exposed to death from the cold" He details the loss of 40 men and numerous camels and horses. He rhapsodizes about Lhasa "...nothing is comparable to Tibet." and, finally, upon arrival in Macao he is scathing about the perceived inactivity of the French ambassador Lagrené and the lack of protection sought for Christians in China "France spent 5 million on this ambassador".

Huc concludes that were his energies to be sufficient, he would complete an account of the journey for publication: this was to be the celebrated "Souvenirs d'un Voyage dans la Tartarie, le Thibet, et la Chine ..." published in 1850. The English translation followed soon after.

An edited transcript of the letter is available on request. .