SIR GEORGE LEONARD STAUNTON (1737-1801)
SIR GEORGE LEONARD STAUNTON (1737-1801)

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SIR GEORGE LEONARD STAUNTON (1737-1801)
An Authentic Account of an Embassy from the King of Great Britain to the Emperor of China. London: W. Bulmer and Co. for G. Nicol, 1797. 2 text vols, 4° (319 x 252mm); atlas volume, 2° (568 x 410mm). Text with 2 engraved portrait frontispieces of Emperor Tchien Lung and the Earl of Macartney and 26 illustrations of which one full-page; atlas with 44 plates, including one folding, and 7 double-page folding maps. (Occasional browning and spotting, heavier on title-page of vol. II.) Text: contemporary blind-stamped calf within gilt borders (rebacked preserving original spines, extremities lightly rubbed, front joint of vol. I split); atlas: contemporary half calf rebacked preserving original spine (extremities lightly rubbed).

FIRST EDITION of the official account of the first British Embassy to China, led by Lord Macartney. A 'most interesting account of Chinese manners and customs'. Together with the maps, the stunning plates in the atlas portray the journey 'of this famous embassy... of considerable interest owing to the descriptions of the various places en route which were visited' (Cox). Cordier Sinica, 2382; Cox I, p.344; Brunet V, 525 ('Relation très-intéressante'). (3)

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