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Publication Date: 1818
Seller: Joseph J. Felcone Inc., ABAA, Princeton, NJ, U.S.A.
First Edition
(JAPAN). Golovnin, Vasily Mikhailavich. Narrative of my Captivity in Japan, During the Years 1811, 1812 & 1813. London: For Henry Colburn, 1818. 2 vols. iv, 302 p.; [2], 348, [2] p. Contemporary or slightly later half calf, with the binder's ticket "Bound at Ford's late Barratt's Library . Bath." Turn-in at the top of each spine chipped off, early stamp of a private school library on the front pastedowns and an early paper pocket on the rear pastedowns, otherwise unmarked and a very clean copy. With the bookseller's ticket of J. L. Thompson & Co. Ltd., Kobe, Japan. First edition in English. Golovnin, in command of a Russian sloop-of-war, was ordered to undertake a survey of the Kuril Island. While on the island of Kunashiri he was captured by the Japanese and spent the next two years in captivity on the island of Hokkaido. He spent those years mastering the Japanese language and studying its culture and traditions. His release was eventually negotiated by Captain Rikord, whose account appears at the end of the second volume. Cordier, Japonica, 465.