Narrative of the Earl of Elgin's mission to China and Japan in the Years 1857, '58, '59
New York: Harper & Brothers, 1860.
First Edition. Hardcover. Good. xvi, [17]-645 pp, bound in original blue cloth, with color frontispiece, many additional b/w illustrations. Boards heavily worn and soiled, binding sound, contents clean; a few pages chipped at the fore edge`. In 1857 Oliphant, a well-traveled lawyer, diplomat, and writer, became private secretary to Lord Elgin (James Bruce) on his visit to the Far East, aimed at opening up China and Japan to Western trade. "He accompanied Elgin to Hong Kong, was present at the bombardment of Canton (Guangzhou), and helped to storm Tientsin (Tianjin). He was employed in several minor missions, and visited Japan with the expedition barely eighteen months after the American Townsend Harris had been accredited as the first foreign diplomat to the shogun's government" (DNB). "Bruce managed to secure a treaty at Tientsin providing for the provision of a British minister, additional facilities for British trade, and protection of Protestants and Catholics. Bruce and Oliphant then proceeded to Japan, where another treaty was made to open certain ports to British trade and to admit foreigners into the country" (Hill 1258). Map titles: The Peiho River, Map of China, Empire of Japan, Chart and Harbour of the Bay of Yedo, The Yang-Tse Kiang River. Cordier (Sinica) 2376.;.
Item #24387
Price: $150.00