Adam Brand (born before 1692 in

Lübeck Lübeck (; Low German also ), officially the Hanseatic City of Lübeck (german: Hansestadt Lübeck), is a city in Northern Germany. With around 217,000 inhabitants, Lübeck is the second-largest city on the German Baltic coast and in the state ...

- died 1746 in

Königsberg Königsberg (, ) was the historic Prussian city that is now Kaliningrad, Russia. Königsberg was founded in 1255 on the site of the ancient Old Prussian settlement ''Twangste'' by the Teutonic Knights during the Northern Crusades, and was name ...

) was a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

merchant and explorer. He was born in

and undertook several trading journeys to

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...

. In 1692 the czar Peter the Great entrusted Eberhard Isbrand Ides with a mission to the

Kangxi Emperor The Kangxi Emperor (4 May 1654– 20 December 1722), also known by his temple name Emperor Shengzu of Qing, born Xuanye, was the third emperor of the Qing dynasty, and the second Qing emperor to rule over China proper, reigning from 1661 to ...

of China. Brand accompanied him as secretary of the embassy. Ides and his mission, which consisted of more than 250 noblemen, advisors, merchants and soldiers, reached Beijing, the capital city of the Empire, in 1693 after 18 months of travel. The main achievement of the embassy was that the Russians were allowed to carry business in Beijing with a caravan of maximum 200 members every three years. In 1697 Brand was made court councillor and commercial councillor (Hofrath and Commerzienrath respectively (honorary titles bestowed by the Prussian state)). Although he had been chosen to act as Prussian envoy to Persia, the death of King Frederic I of Prussia in 1713 led to this project never being materialised. He then went to reside at

where he ended his days in 1746.

Work

Brand is the author of one of the two eyewitness accounts existing on Eberhard Isbrand Ides' journey to China (the other one was written by Ides himself). His report, written in German, to which was added an opuscule by H. W. Ludolff entitled "Curieuse Beschreibung der natürlichen Dingen Rußlands" (Curious observations concerning the products of Russia), was first published in the year 1698 in

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

. This report became extremely popular in the Western Europe. It was quickly translated into various European languages including English (1698 and 1707), French (1699) and Dutch (1699).Versions of it were also included in English (1705) and Spanish (1701) collections of travels and voyages.Hundt, pp. 69 and 77. Brand sent an extract from his manuscript to

Leibniz Gottfried Wilhelm (von) Leibniz . ( – 14 November 1716) was a German polymath active as a mathematician, philosopher, scientist and diplomat. He is one of the most prominent figures in both the history of philosophy and the history of ma ...

who translated it into Latin and inserted it in his work Novissima Sinica (1697).

List of works

''Beschreibung Der Chinesischen Reise (1698)''

Translations

Into English

''A Journal of the Embassy from Their Majesties John and Peter Alexievitz (1698)''

Into French

''Relation du voyage de Mr Evert Isbrand, envoyé de Sa Majesté czarienne à l'empereur de Chine, en 1692, 93 et 94 (1699)''

Into Dutch

''Seer aenmercklijcke Land- en Water-Reys, Onlanghs gedaen van't Gesantschap sijner tegenwoordigh-regeerende Czarsche Majesteyt uyt Muscouw na China, onder desselven Ambassadeur de Heer Isbrand, door Groot-Ustiga, Sibeien, Dauren, Mongalisch Tattaryen, &c (1699)''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brand, Adam 1692 births 1746 deaths German explorers Russian explorers Russian diplomats Businesspeople from Lübeck