[Travel & Exploration] Alexander, William, and (George Henry Mason) The Costume of China, and The Punishments of China

The Costume of China, Illustrated in Forty-Eight Colored Engravings
London: William Miller, 1805. First edition. 4to. With half-title, List of Subscribers, plate index, and ad leaf. Illustrated with a hand-colored engraved title-page and 48 hand-colored engraved plates; plate 37 in first state, others in second state; many plates with tissue guards; some plates with J. Whatman watermark. One Whatman watermark dated 1801, and one plate with W. Eglas watermark, dated 1796. Full contemporary diced russia, stamped in blind and in gilt, rebacked, extremities rubbed and worn, corners worn, boards rubbed; all edges gilt; marbled endpapers; many text leaves with watermark date 1802, two text leaves with 1794 watermark date; front and rear hinge worn; scattered minor spotting to text and plates leaves; scattered minor soiling; offsetting from plates; gift label on front and rear paste-down; old cataloguer's notes in pencil on front blank; ink stamp of Moore Institute School of Design Library at bottom of title-page. Abbey, Travel 534; Tooley 18

William Alexander traveled as one of the official draughtsman with the Macartney Embassy, the first British diplomatic mission to China, led by Earl George Macartney in 1792-94. The mission had two goals, one, to improve trade conditions between Great Britain and China by opening more ports to British trade, and two, to investigate Chinese production, economy, and document their way of life. While the first goal was met with failure, the second goal was more successful, as can be seen in the images executed here by Alexander.

Bound with:

(Mason, George Henry)
The Punishments of China, Illustrated by Twenty-Two Engravings: With Explanations in English and French
London: William Miller and W. Bulmer and Co., 1801. First edition. With an additional title-page in French; text printed in English and in French. Illustrated with 22 hand-colored engraved plates by Dadley, after designs by Pu-Qua of Canton; seven plates with watermark dated 1796, some with "E& P" (Edmeads & Pine) watermark. Four text leaves with 1796 watermark date; scattered marginal soiling to text and plates; ink stamp of Moore Institute School of Design Library at bottom verso of final text leaf. Abbey, Travel 532 (of the 1804 reprint)