Mcomie William (4 results)

Hardcover. Condition: Very good +. Dust Jacket Condition: very good +. First Edition. First Edition. Hardcover. 10" X 7". xxxii, 505pp. Presents nicely in protective archival sleeved dust jacket. A hint of shelfwear and gentle bumping to dust jacket. Bound in gray paper over boards, with spine lettered in gilt. Light shelfwear and gentle bumping to head and tail of spine. Binding is firm and sound. Light dust soiling to edges of text block. Pages are clean and unmarked. A very presentable first edition of this comparative study of Western naval expeditions and enterprises and Japanese response in the period from 1853 to 1855. ABOUT THIS BOOK: This highly informed and widely researched study provides for the first time a more complete picture of the competition and cooperation, distrust and open hostility of the four protagonists involved in this joint Western enterprise. In 1852, the news of the US government's plan to send a large naval expedition to Japan to demand the opening of its ports to American ships excited public interest and elicited differing responses among the European powers. For Russia, Japan was a neighbouring empire to whose ports it had itself long sought access; now, its jealousy aroused, and its own strategic interests seemingly under threat, Russia could not permit the United States to possibly exclude it from Japanese ports. In the wake of the Opium war, the Dutch king had urged the shogun to peacefully open its ports to the other Western powers; now the king and his ministers feared that the US expedition would take an overly aggressive approach that might involve the Netherlands in a war with Japan. Having previously opened Chinese ports to the West, Britain was occupied there, and willing to take 'a wait and see' attitude, temporarily conceding a leading role to the United States in Japan. (France had also previously made approaches to Japan, and in case of a successful outcome, would not lag far behind in sending its own warships to make arrangements with Japan.) Thus, the stage was set for the race between America and Russia to open 'Closed Japan' and the surrounding seas, while the Netherlands worked quietly behind the scenes, and Britain and France waited in the wings. This volume documents in detail the plans and outcomes of each of the four powers' negotiations with Japan, lists the clauses of the resulting treaties and offers a comparative analysis of their merits and demerits; at the same time it provides a fascinating commentary on the way business was done by the Japanese with each country and its representatives. (Publisher).

Hardcover. Condition: Very Good/Very Good.

First edition hard back binding in publisher's original grey cloth covers, gilt title and author lettering to the spine, powder blue end leaves. 8vo. 10'' x 7''. This study provides a picture of the competition and co-operation, distrust and open hostility of the US, Britain, Holland and Russia involved in their joint enterprise in Japan. It documents the plans and outcomes of each of the four powers' negotiations with Japan. At the same time it provides a fascinating commentary on the way business was done by the Japanese with each country and its representatives. Contains frontispiece map, [xxii] 505 pp with monochrome illustrations and photographs on loaded art paper to the centre pages. Fine condition book in Fine condition dust wrapper, unused and unopened new book. We carry this book in stock for immediate dispatch. Member of the P.B.F.A. ISBN 1901903761 JAPAN (History & Culture).

First edition hard back binding in publisher's original dove grey cloth covers, gilt title and author lettering to the spine. 8vo. 10'' x 7¼''. The first in a three-volume series, Volume 1 begins with the earliest written reports from China in the first century AD and ends with a survey of Dutch reports from 1841, which marks the point when 'Japan had been amply described in all major respects', and at a time when it began to be perceived as a less remote and more important country in Western eyes 'yet still emphatically closed to all foreign trade except that of the Dutch and the Chinese'. Furthermore, in little more than a decade later the number and variety of accounts were to increase greatly following the American, Russian and British expeditions of 1853-1854 - accounts which are to form a key element of Volume 2. The Contents are divided into two parts: chronological and thematic. Part I is devoted to a discussion and analysis of the dominant views and images of Japan found in each historical era. It also provides brief biographical data about those European and American travellers to Japan whose reports are quoted in Part II, including some sixty eyewitness accounts, along with concise summaries and commentaries. Compared to previous surveys, a significant aspect of this volume is the greater amount of biographical information regarding the leading European visitors to Japan that is provided, together with a concise analysis and evaluation of their original accounts by both contemporary and more recent critics. As a further innovation, excerpts from the reports of Russian visitors to Japan, including Adam Laxman and V. M. Golvnin are quoted for the first time alongside those of West European and American accounts. The volume is supported by a significant Glossary and Bibliography, as well as Subject and Name Place Indexes. Contains [xxiii] 494 printed pages of text with monochrome photographs, illustrations and map to the centre leaves. Fine condition book in Fine condition dust wrapper, unused and unopened new book. We carry this book in stock for immediate dispatch. Member of the P.B.F.A. ISBN 190190346X JAPAN (History & Culture).