ARCHIBALD JOHN LITTLE / Through the Yang-tse Gorges or Trade & Travel 1st 1888

Description: Through the Yang-tse Gorges or Trade & Travel in Western China Author: LITTLE, ARCHIBALD JOHN Title: Through the Yang-tse Gorges or Trade & Travel in Western China Publication: London. Sampson Low, Marston, Searle & Rivington. 1888 Edition: 1st Edition Description: 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. 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. Seller ID: 162930 Subject: All Galleries Asia Bookroom Asia Bookroom is located in Canberra, Australia, specialising in out of print and antiquarian books of Asian interest with some quality new books. Our stock extends from new books hot off the press to rare antiquarian volumes, including a wide variety of books published in many parts of the world, some of which are rarely seen outside of Asia. Payment PayPal is preferred. Shipping All orders ship within two business days. Orders outside of Australia are shipped via Air Mail and can take 2 to 3 weeks to arrive. Very occasionally books are lost in transit. It is vital in these cases that we are informed promptly as it becomes almost impossible to trace, even an insured package, after a period. Please contact us if you are concerned that your parcel has taken too long to arrive. Our packing is of the highest standard and it is very rare for faulty packaging to be the cause. Returns All items are guaranteed to be as described or they may be returned within 30 days of receipt for a refund. Guarantee We want you to be 100% satisfied in all your dealings with us. We are experienced booksellers who appreciate the importance of condition and make every effort to carefully and fairly describe each book we handle. To ensure this happens we take great pains to accurately describe the condition of our books in cases, such as antiquarian or secondhand books, where a condition description is required. If you see no explanation of condition in a description of a book, you can safely assume that it is either a new book or is a secondhand/out of print book in excellent condition.This listing was created by Bibliopolis.

Price: 600 AUD

Location: Canberra, Australia

End Time: 2024-11-10T00:11:07.000Z

Shipping Cost: 16.68 AUD