*ELLIS (Henry). - Lot 121

Lot n° 121
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Estimation :
600 - 800 EUR
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Result : 1 000EUR
*ELLIS (Henry). - Lot 121
*ELLIS (Henry). 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. London : for John Murray, 1817. - In-4, 270 x 205 : portrait, vii, 526 pp. 3 maps, 7 plates. Brown calf, smooth spine of tinted tan calf decorated, spotted edges (period binding restored). First edition of this account of Lord Amherst's embassy in China in 1816, "containing the details of the negotiations which took place in this circumstance, the relation of the crossing of China, and of the Voyage by land of the Embassy, from the mouth of Pei-ho to Canton, mingled with Observations on the aspect of the country, on the Politics, on the Moral Character, and on the Manners of the Chinese nation". What characterizes this embassy, the second after Lord Macartney's, is its failure due officially to a problem of prostration in the ritual of submission to the emperor, but it failed in reality because of clumsiness on both sides, an exacerbated authoritarianism and a bad communication. The edition is illustrated with a frontispiece portrait of Lord Amherst, 3 maps (one of which is folding) and 7 beautiful color aquatints of Chinese landscapes. Binding restored, only the boards are original, browned and cracked on the edges by humidity, the spine has been completely rebound. Spotting and two light spots on the portrait. Tear at bottom corner of one leaf (pp. 417-418). Provenance: John Wild, with his bookplate.
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