HALL, Basil.
Account of a voyage of discovery to the west coast of Corea and the great Loo-Choo Island. With an appendix, containing charts, and various hydrographical and scientific notices. And a vocabulary of the Loo-Choo language.
London, John Murray, 1818. Large 4to. Coloured plates of Sulpher Island, Korean Chief and his secretary, Napakiang, Loo Choo Chief and his two sons, Priest and Gentlemen of Loo Choo, the Prince of Loo Choo, scene after the Prince of Loo Choo's feast, Gentlemen of Loo Choo in his Cloak, some items of daily use for the inhabitants and the bridge at Napakiang. Later three quarter leather with spine raised in six compartents with gilt ornaments and two green leather title labels. XV, 222; CXXX, 64 pp.
€ 3,950
Rare narrative of the voyage to the west coast of Korea made by Captain Basil Hall (1788-1844). This expedition took Lord Amherst's Embassy to China and explorled the barely known East China Sea and Yellow Sea. Not only Korea was visited but also the Ryukyu Archipelago by the Alceste and Lyra, they obtained detailed information on the area. The Europeans in the past had explored Korea only briefly. On the way home the Alceste was wrecked in the Gaspar Strait of Sumatra. This account contains entries about the specifics of Korean lifestyles, local vocabulary, including Korean, and hydrographic charts and nautical facts such as records of sea currents and meteorological data.
The drawings of scenery and costumes were made by William Havell (1782-1857), the eminent artist who accompanied the Embassy, from sketches taken on the spot, by C.W. Browne, midshipman on board the Alceste.
Good uncut copy; Plate after p. XVIII bound upside down. Abbey, Travel , 558; Cordier, Japonica, 469; Hill, p. 134; Alt Japan Kat. 614.
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