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Narrative of the Expedition of an American Squadron to the China Seas and Japan: Performed in the Years 1852, 1853, and 1854, Under the Command of Commodore M.C. Perry, United States Navy by Francis Lister Hawks;- Published in New York by Appleton & Company 1857. Engraved full frontispiece portrait of Prince of Idzu, 10 large fold-out Maps and Charts, 75 engraved plates, and numerous wood-engraved vignettes within the text. Original reddish brown three quarter leather binding, with marbled paper to front and back, marbled endpapers within. The leather spine is elaborately decorated in gilt, the spine in six compartment, with five raised bands, gilt-lettered in one, the others decorated with small gilt tools, all edges marbled. The Book is in fine condition, the binding is slightly worn, very clean inside, and the numerous engraved plates are also in fine condition and all present.
1st. single volume Edition of 1857 there was a 3 volume Edition published the year earlier or published in the same year as Perry's official report which was issued in three volumes. Early in 1852, President Millard Fillmore "ordered Perry to take command of the East Asia Squadron for the purpose of establishing official relations with the Government of Japan, a country closed to almost all foreign contact for two and a half centuries. Perry's Naval and Diplomatic experience and his personality, a combination of sternness, tact, and integrity, were ideally suited for this delicate assignment. Perry devised an effective, two-step strategy. He arrived with four warships at the mouth of Edo in Tokyo Bay in July 1853 demanding that a high-ranking Nobleman accept a letter for the Emperor from the President of America requesting that American Naval vessels be allowed access to Japanese Harbours. If the letter was refused, Perry's Naval vessels would proceed by force to the capital of Toyko. After the Japanese reluctantly received the letter, Perry immediately departed. He returned with twice the number of Naval vessels in February 1854 for his answer. Aware of the humiliation China had suffered in the Opium War with Britain and impressed by Perry's combination of firmness and restraint, the internally divided Japanese leadership agreed to the Treaty of Kanagawa on 31 March 1854. This convention gave U.S. Naval vessels access to the Ports of Hakodate and Shimoda for provisions and refuge, and it provided for the stationing of a U.S. consul at Shimoda. There was no agreement to allow trade, but Perry anticipated correctly that the creation of a consulate would lead to commerce. Perry's mission was a turning point for Japan on the road to economic and political change and to world prominence. For the United States, Perry's mission was an early expression of American commercial and strategic advance into the Pacific and East Asia. The arrival of his "black ships, " as the Japanese called them, began an enduring and ambivalent relationship of friendship and friction between the two nations" |
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Washington Irving;-
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Nigger Jokes and Stump Speeches;
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Astoria;
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Stenhouse, Mrs. T.B. H.
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Mr Paine’s letter to Mr. Secretary Dundas -
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