Letters and Journals of James, Eighth Earl of Elgin, Governor of Jamaica, Governor-General of Canada, Envoy to China, Viceroy of India
London, John Murray, 1873 (second edition)/ [1872].
Octavo, xxii, 468, 12 (publisher's advertisements dated November 1872) pages.
Brown sand-grain cloth blocked in gilt and black; endpapers and adjacent leaves a little foxed; one six-leaf section slightly loose; a few other minor signs of age and use; an excellent copy.
The half-title is inscribed and signed by the author's wife 'To Mr Smith | From Lady Elgin | Feby. 1875'. Loosely inserted is a short autograph letter signed by Lord Elgin to Bertram Ashburnham, 4th Earl of Ashburnham (two pages on one leaf, 178 × 111 mm; one tiny sealed tear and faint evidence of prior mounting to the blank bottom portion of the verso): '110 Eaton Sq. Jul 18. 61. Dear Lord St Asaph, I am sorry not to have seen you, but I send two notes of introduction which I hope may be of use to you. Elgin & Kincardine'. Lord Elgin (1811-1863), son of the 7th Earl of Parthenon Marbles fame, 'was a British colonial administrator and diplomat, including roles as Governor General of Canada and High Commissioner in charge of opening trades with China and Japan, and Viceroy of India. As British High Commissioner in China during the Second Opium War, after repeatedly attacking China, he ordered the destruction of the Old Summer Palace in Beijing in 1860' (Royal Collections Trust website). The four-page preface, dated 4 March 1872, is by Arthur Penrhyn Stanley, Dean of Westminster.
Item #139436
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