A la recherche du Cabinet Titsingh

Historian Frank Lequin (1946) studies the history of the exchange of learning and culture between Japan and Europe in the 18th century. Since 1975 he visits archives, libraries and museums worldwide à la recherche du Cabinet Titsingh. His encounter with Asia, notably Japan, dates from 1970 when he travelled around the world as a pianist, giving recitals in the theatre of one of the last unplasticized passenger liners, the s.s. Rotterdam. Lequin's pioneering monograph on the personnel of the VOC in Asia in the 18th century was published in 1982; 2004 will see a second revised edition. He has retraced and edited Titsingh's Private Correspondence, and published numerous articles in Dutch, English, French, German, and Japanese on a variety of subjects. In 2002, Lequin published Titsingh's first biography (also with Canaletto). It was acclaimed as 'by far the number one of the top ten publications' during the commemorative VOC-year 1602-2002 (Historisch Nieuwsblad). This was the first volume in the publication series of Lequin's one-man research institute (Titsingh Instituut Leiden; www.Tistingh.org; www.Titsingh.nl).