“Account of A Voyage of Discovery to the West Coast of Corea and The Great Loo-Choo Island”

By Captain Basil Hall

“First account of Korea and the Japanese Ryukyu islands including Owinawa ( Then known as Great Loo Choo) and its language”

First edition - London – 1818 – John Murray

Quarto (28 x 22cm). Contemporary Moroccan full leather binding in very good condition

 Complete: xvi,222,cxxx,[72] plus 8 hand coloured plates and 5 maps

This is the first comprehensive description of  the Ryukyu islands by the Europeans. Captain Hall sailed in the ship the Lyra, alongside the Alceste as part of the Amherst Embassy to China. After exploring Korea, the East China sea and the Yellow sea,  the voyage explored the Ryukyu islands including landing at Okinawa in 1816. His descriptions of the friendly people of the Islands was well received and encouraged further visits, including by Admiral Perry in 1853.

The account also includes a dictionary of the vocabulary of Okinawa

£1200