Blakiston, Thomas W: FIVE MONTHS ON THE YANG-TSZE. With a Narrative of the Exploration of Its Upper Waters, and Notices of the Present Rebellions in China. London, 1862. xv, 380 pp. B/w frontispiece plus 23 b/w engravings (some fullpage). 2 folding maps at back. 23x16 cm. Cloth.

One of the earliest Yangtze travelogues by Captain Thomas Blakiston who journeyed at the time of the Taiping Rebellion from Shanghai up the river to Nanjing and, following a stay in the area with observations and detail on the sites and the course of the Rebellion, continued on upriver to Wuhan and then to Yichang and through the Gorges. There is then much description of the country and towns of Sichuan. Blakiston then travelled further on the river into its upper reaches. He then returned back down the Yangtze. Of the two maps, one folds out into a long map with details of the route up the Yangtze and its geography. The second map is of China proper. Firm and in very good condition, just the occasional minor mark and minimal foxing.