SMITH, George, Bishop of Victoria (Hong Kong)

TEN WEEKS IN JAPAN

1861. Item #86067

SMITH, George, Bishop of Victoria (Hong Kong). TEN WEEKS IN JAPAN. London: Longman, Green, Longman, and Roberts, 1861. First edition. Illustrated with eight tinted wood-engraved plates by G. Pearson, five of which are after photographs from Negretti and Zambra's "Views in Japan", with tissue guards, plus a fine folding map of 'Japan and the adjacent countries': 41 x 33 cm, engraved by Edward Weller, color outlining in blue, scale in Geographical and English miles. Octavo. xv,[1],459 pp. Original publisher's binding of purple cloth with blind-stamped frames on sides, gilt title on spine, and a gilt-stamped 'Japanese official gentleman' on upper board. Brown coated endpapers, with publisher's advertisements printed on pastedowns, and a binder's ticket ('Bound by Edmonds & Remnants - London') on rear pastedown. Early ink ownership on verso of ffep. Binding is sound but shows signs of superficial wear, being slightly faded on spine, with bottom forecorners discolored, and a small gouge on the upper board. Text and plates are clean but for some light pencil checks in margins and a couple of notes on recto of rear fep. A very good copy of Smith's account of his visit to Japan, a scarce and important first person narrative of the trip which included stops at Nagasaki, Yokohama and Tokyo (Yeddo), and his reactions to all that he saw along the way. (Cordier 553).

Price: $375.00