4to (284 x 220 mm). Half-title; 8 aquatint plates with hand coloring by William Havell, one uncolored aquatint, 5 engraved maps (2 folding), one engraved plate. (Some minor offsetting, a few scant spots). Original drab boards uncut (rebacked to style, some light wear to corners and extremities); quarter morocco slipcase. Provenance: John Hiley Addington (1759-1818), British Member of Parliament (armorial bookplate); Chetham's Library (stamps to title and most plates). 

FIRST EDITION IN ORIGINAL BOARDS. Basil Hall entered the British navy in 1801, and in 1815 "was appointed to the Lyra and ordered to China where, in consort with the Alceste, he accompanied Lord Amherst's embassy to China" (Howgego). The expedition "explored the relatively little-known East China Sea and the Yellow Sea. Visits were made to Korea and the Ryukyu Archipelago. Korea had been sketchily explored by the Europeans, but it was not until the Alceste and Lyra expedition in 1816-17, under Captains Murray Maxwell and Basil Hall, that detailed information was obtained about the Ryukyus" (Hill). According to Abbey, Hall's work was met with enthusiasm by the Edinburgh Review: "We do not know when we have met with a more pleasing work than this delightful account of the people of Loo-Choo... [It] makes us proud of our country, and puts us in good humour with our species." Abbey Travel, 558; Cordier Sinica, 3009.