== Book 60011232 ==Narrative of The Earl of Elgin's Mission, |
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Oliphant, Laurence: Earl of Elgin's Mission to China and Japan, 1860, New York, Harper & Brothers, (first US edition), 1 volume, 645 pages, 8vo (6 3/8 x 9 1/2 in - 16 x 24 cm), color frontispiece (colored engraving / lithograph?) + 60 woodcut engraved text illustrations (range from 1/3 to full page in size), 10 of the 60 woodcut engravings are full plate size, green pictorial gilt cloth. Pages 17-300 deal with the China portion of the Elgin Mission, which started in May of 1857, and the events surrounding the Treaty of Tienstin. The Japanese portion of the book runs from pages 301 to 476 and starts with the arrival in Japan in early August of 1858 through the signing of the Treaty on August 26. The Japanese portion is much more a description of the culture as the British found it than the diplomatic events leading up to the Treaty. The Japanese section even has the obligatory "bathing room" illustration which seems to have been required in all books of this type. Keeping with British tastes, there are no naked bodies, only baths and wooden buckets for washing. After the Japan visit, the Elgin Mission returned to China and for more trade negotiations, exploring and a little military action. The Mission departed China on March 4, 1859. The final China related portion of the book runs from pages 477-610. This is the first US abbreviated version of the original two volume narrative of the mission that was first published in 1859 in England. |
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1860 - US Edition
A Winter Scene in Japan
Tea-garden near Yedo
Japanese Funeral |
Listing of full page Illustrations (No prining on back):
A Winter Scene in Japan* (Frontispiece) (shown above)* I have seen the frontispiece described as a lithograph. It is printed by "T. Sinclair's lith Phila". However, it appears to me under 10x magnification to be a handcolored engraving. |
