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3 volumes. First Edition of the original three volume quarto issue. Profusely decorated with all illustrations called for or suppressed, Volume I with 90 lithographic plates INCLUDING the suppressed bathing plate which is not present in most copies, a great many of the plates in colours, and with the 3 "facsimiles" of Japanese woodblock prints in colours; 6 maps and charts (2 folding); 79 woodcuts in the text; Volume II with 79 woodcuts in the text, 4 coloured lithographs of Chinese scenes; 2 natural history engraved plates; 6 hand-coloured lithographs of birds; 10 hand-coloured steel-engraved plates of fish; 5 lithographs of shells, 2 hand-coloured; 16 diagram plates of winds and currents; the 14-page facsimile of the Japanese language version of the U.S.-Japan treaty, the English version and 17 large folding charts on 16 sheets; Volume III with the 352 full page woodcut star charts and observations on the zodiacal light as called for Thick, large quarto, handsomely bound in three quarter black morocco over black cloth covered boards, the spines gilt ruled and lettered in gilt, the covers with gilt rules at the joins. xvii, [1], 537 + plates; [viii], 414, [4], 14, [2], xi, [4] + plates and maps; xliii, [1], 705, [1] pages including the 352 full--page woodcut zodiacal star charts A very well preserved, clean and handsome copy, the bindings in fine order and the text-blocks and plates all beautifully preserved, the maps in a very pleasing state of preservation showing only light evidence of use or age. FIRST EDITION OF THIS HIGHLY IMPORTANT WORK, A PRODIGIOUS ACHIEVEMENT WITH SUPERB ILLUSTRATIONS, MAPS AND CHARTS. Hawks' report of Perry's expedition was published in three volumes in Washington as a report to the Congress of the United States. The first volume contains the narrative of the expedition, and the second and third volumes consist of scientific data. This first edition also includes all the scientific, natural history and astronomical data that was not included in later editions. During this expedition Perry negotiated the treaty between the United States and Japan which opened the latter to the influences of western civilization. The more important articles of the treaty provided "that the port of Simoda, in the principality of Idzu, and the port of Hakodate, in the principality of Matsmai, were constituted as ports for the reception of American ships, where they could buy such supplies as they needed; that Japanese vessels should assist American vessels driven ashore on the coasts of Japan, and that the crews of such vessels should be properly cared for at one of the two treaty ports; that shipwrecked and other American citizens in Japan should be as free as in other countries, within certain prescribed limits; that ships of the United States should be permitted to trade at the two treaty ports under temporary regulations prescribed by the Japanese, that American ships should use only the ports named, except under stress of weather, and that privileges granted to other nations thereafter must also be extended to the United States" (Encyc. Brit.). The Perry Expedition (Japanese: , kurofune raik , "Arrival of the Black Ships") was a diplomatic and military expedition to the Tokugawa Shogunate, involving two separate voyages by warships of the United States Navy which took place during 1853 54. The most important goals of the expedition included exploration, surveying, the establishment of diplomatic relations and the negotiation of trade agreements with various nations of the region. The opening of contact with the government of Japan was considered the most important priority of the expedition, and was one of the key reasons for its inception. The expedition was commanded by Commodore Matthew Calbraith Perry, under orders from President Millard Fillmore. Perry s primary goal was to force an end to Japan s 220-year-old policy of isolation and to open Japanese ports to American trade, through the use of gunboat diploma. Seller Inventory # 31978
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