FORTUNE, Robert (1812-1880). A Journey to the Tea Countries of China; including Sung-Lo and the Bohea Hills; with a short notice of the East India Company's tea plantations in the Himalaya Mountains. London: John Murray, 1852.

8vo. Initial illustrated title, lithographed map, 3 plates (2 tinted lithographs); 32pp. publisher's catalogue at end. (Some spotting.) Original pictorial olive cloth gilt, Remnant and Edmonds binders' ticket (spine a bit sunned, hinges slightly starting). Provenance: early ownership signature on title; embossed stamp on illustrated title; C.W. Wood, Garden Books (book label on rear pastedown).

FIRST EDITION. Robert Fortune was "one of the greatest 19th century plant hunters—first visited China in 1842, as a collector for the Royal Horticultural Society. In 1848 he returned to China, this time on behalf of the East India Company, to collect plants and seeds of the tea-shrub. The tea growing methods of the Chinese were secret so he had to disguise himself as a Chinese native, and by doing so, learnt their secret ways" (Western Travellers in China).
Cordier, Sinica 2116; Hill (2004) 630; Western Travellers in China 69.

FORTUNE, Robert (1812-1880). A Journey to the Tea Countries of China; including Sung-Lo and the Bohea Hills; with a short notice of the East India Company's tea plantations in the Himalaya Mountains. London: John Murray, 1852.