Edmund Roberts

author

Edmund Roberts

1784–1836

Best known as one of the first U.S. envoys sent to Asia and the Arabian Peninsula, he helped open early American ties with Siam and Muscat during a period of expanding trade. His travels were adventurous and difficult, and they ended with his death at sea while returning to negotiate again in the East.

1 Audiobook

Embassy to the Eastern Courts of Cochin-China, Siam, and Muscat In the U. S. Sloop-of-war Peacock, David Geisinger, Commander, During the Years 1832-3-4

Embassy to the Eastern Courts of Cochin-China, Siam, and Muscat In the U. S. Sloop-of-war Peacock, David Geisinger, Commander, During the Years 1832-3-4

by Edmund Roberts

About the author

Born in 1784, Edmund Roberts was an American merchant who later became a diplomat. Library of Congress records describe him as a merchant and diplomat, and they highlight his role as a special agent of the United States sent to negotiate treaties with Siam, Muscat, and Cochin China.

Roberts is especially remembered for his journey aboard the U.S. sloop-of-war Peacock in 1832–1834 and for the book that grew out of that mission, Embassy to the Eastern Courts of Cochin-China, Siam, and Muscat. His work belongs to the early chapter of American diplomacy in Asia, when the United States was trying to build formal relationships beyond Europe and the Atlantic world.

His career was ambitious but short. Records of his papers show that his most important diplomatic work took place in the 1830s, and his final mission was cut short by his death in 1836.