1894 First Edition – The Life of Sir Harry Parkes – Two Volumes – S. Lane-Poole & F.V. Dickins

An original two-volume first edition of The Life of Sir Harry Parkes, published by Macmillan and Co., London, in 1894.

Not every nineteenth-century book remains inherently collectible simply because of its age. This set has several of the attributes that distinguish a significant historical work: first-edition status, original publisher’s bindings, an important historical subject, and the survival of its original portrait, folding maps and plans.

Sir Harry Parkes spent more than four decades at the centre of British diplomatic affairs in East Asia. These volumes trace his career from his early years in China through to his later appointments as British Minister to Japan and China, placing the reader remarkably close to the people, places and events that shaped nineteenth-century relations between Britain and East Asia.

For the collector, one of the particular attractions of this edition is its original cartographic and illustrative material. The surviving folding maps and plans are not later additions or modern reproductions; they belong to the original 1894 publication and provide a tangible visual record of how China, Japan and significant events of the period were documented for contemporary readers.

This particular set also carries a lovely local provenance. The two volumes have remained within the collection of a Caloundra family for more than a century and are now being offered for the first time from that long-held family collection — an opportunity for their next custodian to continue a history extending across generations.

For a collector of nineteenth-century books, China and Japan, historical cartography, British diplomatic history or East Asian studies, the appeal lies in the combination: an original 1894 first edition, complete two-volume work, original bindings, significant historical subject matter, period portraiture and surviving folding cartography.

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL DETAILS

Title: The Life of Sir Harry Parkes, K.C.B., G.C.M.G., Sometime Her Majesty’s Minister to China & Japan

Volume I: Consul in China, 1841–1865
S. Lane-Poole

Volume II: Minister Plenipotentiary to Japan and China, 1865–1885
F.V. Dickins and S. Lane-Poole

Publisher: Macmillan and Co., London
Publication Date: 1894
Edition: First Edition
Format: Two-volume hardcover set
Binding: Original publisher’s burgundy cloth with gilt spine lettering and dark green endpapers

MAPS & ILLUSTRATIONS

The set retains its important original illustrative and cartographic material, including:

Volume I

• Portrait frontispiece of Sir Harry Parkes
• Folding Sketch Map of China
• Plan of Defences at Canton Factories, December 1856
• Large folding Map Illustrating March to Pekin

Volume II

• Folding Map of Japan

The folding maps and plans examined remain particularly attractive for their age, retaining their original folds and fine period detail.

CONDITION

A complete matching two-volume set in unrestored antique condition, showing the expected evidence of more than 130 years of age and use.

The original cloth bindings display rubbing, handling and shelf wear, with fraying and wear particularly evident at the spine ends and extremities.

Volume I has a split front inner hinge. Preliminary leaves, including the portrait frontispiece, have become detached but are present and retained with the volume. The remainder of the binding remains attached.

The text blocks display age toning, occasional spotting and other age-related characteristics. The important maps and plans inspected are present and have survived notably well.

No attempt has been made to repair or cosmetically restore the volumes. They are offered in their present historical state, allowing a future collector to determine whether conservation is desirable.

Please examine the accompanying photographs carefully. They form an important part of the condition description of this individual set.

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