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Scarce little abridged edition of Staunton's famous account of the embassy of Earl Macartney to the imperial court in Peking, first official British embassy to China. Macartney traveled via Madeira, Tenerife, Rio de Janeiro, the Cape of Good Hope and Indonesia. He was accompanied by Staunton and a retinue which included Staunton's 11-year-old son, nominally the ambassador's page. The 11-year-old turned out to be only European member of the embassy able to speak Mandarin, and thus the only one able to converse with the Emperor. Provenance: Collection of Margaret Gee.