Ooggetuigenverslag van de Amerikaanse expeditie naar Japan onder Commodore Perry in de jaren 1853, 1854 en 1855, waarbij men hoopte handelsbetrekkingen aan te kunnen knopen. Uitgebreid op Japan maar ook Sint Helena (graf van Napoleon Bonaparte, Kaap de Goede Hoop, Mauritius, Ceylon, Singapore, Hong Kong, Macau, Shanghai, Sandwich eilanden, Brazilië Chili, Snowy Sound, enz. Opgedragen aan en met een uittreksel aan brieven van Alexander von Humboldt.

Conditie : Zeer goed met de volgende imperfecties: schutbladen met papierrestauraties, achterste vrij schutblad en enkele pagina's in de bijlagen vlekkerig, één wormgaatje door het boek, buitenrand litho's gebruind en de beschermtissue's licht ouderdomsvlekkig.
Zeldzaam en fraai uitgevoerd werk.

First and only edition in Dutch of the travel account of a German artist on board Commodore Perry's ship Mississippi, to Japan. As the official artist on board Perry's expedition, Heine made hundreds of sketches during the journey which form an important record of Japan just before the Meiji Restoration. As can be expected of an artist, Heine's descriptions of his travels are very scenic. Added to the travel account is an ethnographical description of Japan. Heine's very popular work was originally published in German and immediately translated into French and Dutch.
The 11 plates include a view of the Ryukyu islands, a bathhouse in Shimoda and Perry in conference with Japanese negotiators. Binding in a mint condition, slightly worn at the spine, endpapers repaired. Remarkable good copy with marginal foxing of the tissue guards and outer edges of the plates, and some pages with minor stains. A desirable copy with the often lacking public bathing house litho (mixed man and women).
Very rare with original bookplate on first endpaper and Japanese stamp on french title (Japanese occupation period Dutch Indies).