An Embassy to China

This is the journal kept by Lord Macartney during the British embassy to the Qianlong Emperor, named in the record as Ch'ien-lung, in 1793 and 1794. It records the voyage from England, the landing on the north China coast, the journey to the emperor's presence at Jehol and Peking, and the return south by inland waterways toward Canton. Macartney notes protocol, the dispute over the kowtow, gifts and requests for trade, and his observations of government, customs, and landscape. The book is a diplomatic travel journal of a mission that failed to secure the trading terms Britain sought.

Quarter bound in dark green buckram with design printed paper sides. Dark green slipcase with a reproduction of a painting.