China - Lot 498

China CLARKE (Abel) Narrative of a journey in the interior of China, and of a voyage to and from that country, in the years 1816 and 1817 containing an account of the most interesting transactions of Lord Amherst's Embassy to the Court of Pekin, and observations of the countries which it visited. Illustrated by maps and other engravings. London, Longman, 1818. In-4; illustrated with a colored frontispiece, 4 folding maps and 17 plates (7 in color) and figures in the text. A total of 22/23 plates and maps (one plate missing). ½ marbled fawn basane with corners (restoration, original boards preserved), ornate ribbed spine, weak jaws, rubbed edges. Voyage à l'intérieur de la Chine containing an account of the most interesting transactions of Lord Amherst's embassy at the court of Peking and observations on the countries visited. Abel Clarke was a British naturalist and surgeon. He assembled a vast collection of botanical and mineralogical specimens in China; many of these were lost when the embassy frigate sank in the Gaspar Strait, with the exception of a small collection of plants (containing new, unidentified species); Brown defined a genus of shrub within the honeysuckle family, which he named Abelia in Abel's honor. Abel's account includes descriptions of the orangutan and the boa, as well as observations on the geology of the Cape of Good Hope, which have been much appreciated for their detail and accuracy. Provenance: Charles Robert Colvile bookplate. Charles Robert Colvile (1815- 1886), English Peelite and Liberal politician who represented the southern constituency of Derbyshire. Their son Sir Henry Colvile became a major-general in the 2nd Boer War, fighting at the Battle of Modder River.