vii, [1], 526, [2] pp. With 7 hand-colored aquatint plates, drawn by Charles Abbott, engraved by J. Clark, with later tissue guards; stipple-engraved frontispiece portrait of Lord Amherst; 3 copper-engraved maps, 1 folding. (4to) 10¼x8, 20th century ¾ calf & cloth, spine tooled in gilt, raised bands, morocco lettering piece, page edges stained yellow. First Edition.
Account of the events and adventures surrounding the embassy of Earl Amherst's to China in 1816, sent out by King George III to protest ill-treatment of British subjects. Sir Henry Ellis, a noted diplomat and historian, served as the third commissioner, and, as Hill describes, "Unfortunately this honor was short-lived. Amherst and his retinue were sent home in disgrace after he refused to "kow-tow" (nine strikings of the forehead on the ground) at his presentation to the Emperor Khien Lung in Peking. As if this humiliation was not enough, their ship, the Alceste, was wrecked off the coast of Sumatra on the return voyage. Happily, all hands survived, and another ship was found to carry them home again. On the return voyage the ship stopped at St. Helena; included in the text is Sir Henry's interview with Napoleon Bonaparte. On the Journey out, the Alceste had visited Madeira, Rio de Janeiro, Cape Town, Java, and Macao. This edition, with hand-colored aquatints, is much prized..." These delicately-colored 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. Abbey, Travel, 536; Hill, Pacific Voyages, p.413; Tooley 208.
Condition:
A little rubbing to the joints and extremities; a few expertly repaired marginal tears, a clean, nearly fine copy, much nicer than usually seen.