Fine Printed Books & Manuscripts, Including Americana

8vo. 7 plates (mostly folding, 2 folding maps, numerous illustrations in the text. (Marginal chipping to title-page and a few following leaves, some spotting.) Original printed yellow wrappers (recased, preserving original wrappers, several losses repaired, extremities rubbed and soiled). Provenance: Benjamin Lincoln Ball (1820-1860), American doctor (signature on upper cover, oversigned notation in the same hand on front free endpaper, copious pencil notes on verso of plates).

FIRST EDITION of this rare account by the famous sinologist of his travels in Zhejiang province. Medhurst provides a vivid description of Chinese customs with special reference to their dress, food, modes of travelling, etc. The main narrative is written in the form of a diary detailing the author's adventures. Medhurst made a considerable effort to adopt local custom to the point of shaving his hair and having a Chinese-style cue fitted. Prefixed to the narrative is a note by the editor, tipped in, apologising for the poor paper-quality "owing to non-arrival of supplies from Canton." The same sheets first appeared in "Chinese Miscellanies" No. 1, issued in Shanghai in 1849, and then reissued with a new title-page in London by John Snow the following year.

DOCTOR BENJAMIN LINCOLN BALL'S COPY. Ball was an American doctor who travelled to Shanghai in 1849, where he in fact met Medhurst. He published an account of his travels under the title "Rambles in Eastern Asia, including China and Manilla, during several years residence" (Boston, 1855). Cordier Sinica II, 2117-2118; Löwendahl 1099; Lust 380.