Account of a Voyage of Discovery to the West Coast of Corea, and the Great Loo-Choo Island. And a Vocabulary of the Loo-Choo Language, by H. J. Clifford, Esq. Lieutenant Royal Navy. - Captain Basil Hall, H. J. Clifford 1818 - John Murray, London - First Edition A fine full margined copy, with nine aquatint plates by William Havell, all but one hand-coloured, five engraved maps, including two folding, and an engraved plate of ‘Wollaston’s Dip Sector’ instrument.

‘This expedition took Lord Amherst's embassy to China and 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 Europeans, but it was not until this 1816-7 expedition of the
Alceste and Lyra, under Captains Murray Maxwell and Basil Hall, that detailed information was obtained about the Ryukus. On the homeward passage, the Alceste was wrecked in Gaspar Strait off Sumatra. Captain Hall served in the Royal Navy from 1802-23 and achieved the rank of post-captain. He saw extensive duty on the Pacific coast of America, and continued his travels as a private citizen. He wrote many other books about his travels and experiences.’ - Hill.
  The ‘Great Loo-Choo Island’ refers to Okinawa, the largest island of the Ryukyu Archipelago, named after the native culture, which is distinctly different from that of the rest of Japan, each island having it’s own language. The Ryukyu Islands were an independent kingdom and tributary state to China for several centuries, coming under control of the Satsuma feudal fief in the 17th century, and becoming a Japanese prefecture in 1879.

References: Hill
Pacific Voyages 749. Abbey Travel 558. Cordier, Bibliotheca Sinica 3009. Tooley, English Books with Coloured Plates 1790 to 1860 (1954), 241.

Quarto, pp.[vii]-xv [1] 222 cxxx [72].
  In recent period binding of half dark brown smooth morocco over marbled boards, smooth spine tooled and titled in gilt, marbled endpapers.   Condition: Fine in fine binding   Ref: 105308   Price: HK$ 30,000