HALL, Basil (1788-1844).
Account of a Voyage of Discovery to the West Coast of Correa, and the Great Loo-Choo Island...
London: John Murray, 1818., 1818

Comparable: Christie's, 2007 - $2,880.

4to (10 1/2" x 8 1/2"). Half-title. Fine hand-colored aquatint frontispiece and 8 aquatint plates by William Havell, all but one hand-colored, 5 engraved maps, including 2 folding. Contemporary diced calf gilt (rebacked to style, some surface tears repaired).

Provenance: Armorial bookplate of Robert Ramsay on front paste-down.

Hall’s account of his voyage on the “Lyra” to China in company with the frigate “Alceste” as part of Lord Amherst’s embassy. Hall explored the East China and Yellow Seas and journeyed to Canton and included observations of the people and culture of China, a vocabulary of the Loochoo language and an appendix containing charts and nautical notices. On his return journey, Hall stopped at St. Helena where Napoleon was in exile: he had known his father, Sir James Hall, when the two were at school. An account of this meeting appears in subsequent editions. Abbey “Travel” 558; Cordier “Sinica” 3009.

Seller Inventory #:002289.