Through the Yang-tse Gorges or Trade & Travel in Western China.
London. Sampson Low, Marston, Searle & Rivington. 1888. 1st Edition. Stock ID #162930 Archibald John Little was born in 1838, the son of a doctor who came to specialise in congenital disorders of the feet – his own deep concern about the Chinese practice of foot-binding may perhaps have its origin here. He first went to China in 1859 as a tea-taster for a German merchant house. He was fluent in Chinese, both spoken and written, and he prospered as a merchant. It was his ambition to open western China to trade by introducing steamboats to the rivers, which were then navigated by means of junks, either rowed, poled or even towed in back-breaking toil by the poorest of the poor. This account was first published in London in 1888 and describes his journey up the Yangtze River from Shanghai to Chongqing by a native junk boat in 1883. The upper Yangtze was full of gorges and rapids which made travel treacherous; Little's journey by junk took a month, whereas the journey by steamship would have taken only 36 hours. He was the first person to open the Yangtze River to steamboats in 1898, his wife Alicia, who accompanied him on some of his travels, was a noted campaigner against the practice of foot-binding. When referring to this item please quote stockid 162930.
Folding lithographed map, xvi, 368pp., 32pp adverts, original pictorial black cloth stamped in gilt & red, black endpapers. Prior owners' names on the half-title, and the verso of the dedication page, endpapers creased with small, closed tears mended with archival tape, inner hinges starting, first gathering has been glued at the gutter and does not lie flat when fully opened. Cloth marked, gilt rubbed, head and tail worn with a little loss, corners bumped and a little worn, upper joint neatly repaired. 223 x 138mm. A firm and clean copy of the scarce first edition.
Price: $600.00 AU