Author: Ellis, Henry.
Title: JOURNAL OF THE PROCEEDINGS OF THE LATE EMBASSY TO CHINA; Comprising a Correct Narrative of the Public Transactions of the Embassy, of the Voyage to and From China, and of the Journey from the Mouth of the Pei-Ho to the Return to Canton. Interspersed with Observations Upon the Face of the Country, the Polity, Moral Character, and Manners of the Chinese Nation.
Description: John Murray, 1817. 1st Ed. 4to. vii + [i] 526pp. + [ii]. Soft ground etched port. frontis. (spotted), 3 maps (foxed) including 1 folding (offset and with sm. repaired tear), 7 hand cold. aquatint plates. Light browning and occasional spotting, partially unopened, sm. closed tear repaired to title page, rebound in modern grey boards with original title label to spine, minor marking. ¶ Cordier, 2393; Abbey Travel 536; Tooley 208; Prideaux pp.250-1, 335; No obvious watermarks to the plates. In 1816 Ellis accompanied Earl Amherst on his mission to China, and he recorded his experiences in [the above work]. The mission, to negotiate a new trade agreement, was unsuccessful. Ellis was not impressed by the Chinese, whom he considered xenophobic, ultra-traditional, and 'uninteresting' (Ellis). On the return voyage, Ellis and his companions were wrecked in the Strait of Gaspar and only reached Batavia after a perilous journey of several hundred miles in an open boat. Later they called at St Helena, where Ellis met Napoleon. Napoleon later hotly disputed Ellis's account of the meeting ...’ ONDB Ellis was Third Commissionar of the embassy. Ellis’s account was authorized and he includes an appendix of official papers, largely translations from the Chinese. These delicately hand coloured plates include views of the Summer Palace of the Emperor, the bustling anchorage at Tong-Chow, the Temple of Quan-Yin-Mun near Nankin, etc.

Keywords: VOYAGES AND TRAVEL; CHINA, JAPAN AND FAR EAST


See more books from our catalog: VOYAGES AND TRAVEL: CHINA, JAPAN AND FAR EAST